A Little Harmony
by antagonistic
Summary: Nara Shikamaru, genius concertmaster of the renowned Konoha Kokou orchestra, hates rock. Sabakuno Temari, talented bassist of punk rock band Sabaku, doesn't understand classical music. Two people, two complete opposites.
1. Introductions

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill...

- - -

CHAPTER ONE

"Hurry up, Shikamaru!"

"Yeah, yeah… I'm coming, Ino."

_Argh. How troublesome is _this_? When I agreed to go with her to this concert, I didn't think she'd be _this _excited._ Shikamaru looked around. Everywhere, people were jumping up and down… worshipping the ground the "great" _Sabaku_ group walked. Shikamaru sighed. _I don't even _like _rock music_. He never did understand the entertainment these simpletons seemed to enjoy every time a band member played a random chord on the guitar. Regardless of the fact that it sounded more like noise than anything else and had no musical sense whatsoever, people still thought it was _the _most amazing thing in the world. Furthermore, a simple look or grunt seemed enough to elicit screams of excitement. Ino made that clear enough when she suddenly noticed a big banner of Gaara – the lead guitarist – flying prominently near the front entrance.

Shikamaru was sure that squeal of undying love signalled the near end of his poor ears.

Yes, no matter how he thought about it… women were pains in the ass. And annoying.

"Chouji! Will you _please_ pick something to eat already!" Yamanaka Ino practically screamed. "The show's about to start!"

Chouji merely waved her away, "Calm down, Ino. There's still another _hour_ left to go. There's a reason we came here early, you know."

Ino turned to Shikamaru, a pleading look in her eyes, "Nara! Do something!"

Shikamaru looked at her, expression unchanged. _Like hell I would_… "Ne, Chouji, what do you think _I_ should get?"

Ino raised her hands in exasperation. She turned away, muttering something about how useless and hopeless men were, and brightened when she saw a familiar pink head, accompanied by a bright yellow and dark raven one.

"SAKURA!" she squealed. Sakura did the same and the two girls hugged each other by way of greeting. Shikamaru found the whole thing amusing. Back then, the two girls fought each other incessantly. He wasn't entirely sure what happened between them, but now they were close best friends. _Well, as close as you can get, I suppose._ He didn't fail to notice the slightly strained smiles, and the prolonged embrace that seemed out of place. Then again, he never really failed to notice _any_thing.

Uchiha Sasuke nodded at Shikamaru and Chouji, seemingly uncaring that he was being stared at by a ravenous-looking group of girls. Uzumaki Naruto, meanwhile, had a grin on his face Shikamaru figured would earn him a Guinness' World Record if anyone bothered to actually mention it to the committee. This troubled Shikamaru. Why would Naruto, of all people, actually be _happy_ to be here?

Ah. Of course.

"How much did she pay you, Naruto?"

"Two weeks worth of ramen," he grinned, heaven and luck on his side.

How fortunate was he that Sakura worked part-time at the local ramen place?

Now, why didn't Shikamaru think of _that_? He could've asked Ino to bribe him. At least _then_ he'd have gotten some sort of reimbursement for the pain and torture he was experiencing, the effort he was being forced to make, _and_ the future medical bills he knew would be imperative if all the girls present didn't realize _Sabaku_ couldn't hear them from wherever the hell they were so there was technically be no point screaming out their names in between endless _KYAA!_'s and _OH-MI-GOD-PLEASE-SLEEP-WITH-ME!_'s.

Shikamaru took a breath.

He didn't think hearing aids were cheap.

"Come on guys!" the girls squealed in unison. Yeah, that's right. Squealed, not said. _Squealed_.

The boys moaned and groaned, but followed anyway, knowing they didn't have much of a choice. Shikamaru wondered why the girls didn't just come on their own. After all, they, more than anyone else, knew that this particular group of guys much preferred showing off their manliness at an arcade somewhere, rather than bear through a rock concert. Looking around at the group of jittery and excited girls, it dawned on Shikamaru that Sakura and Ino probably didn't want to look like they were "trying too hard". He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. The girls were demented if they thought _Sabaku_ would even notice their _existence_ tonight, let alone judge whether they were trying "too hard" or not.

They reached the auditorium and the girls dragged them along to grapple for the best spots nearest the stage, along with the rest of the bloody audience. Shikamaru tried fighting Ino's vice grip, but the girl could latch onto a person like Naruto latched onto his ramen. God dammit, it hurt. Shikamaru made a face as Ino firmly positioned him next to her and followed the rest of the world in waving their arms and added the little extra of screaming at the top of her lungs as if just screaming really loudly wasn't already enough.

Shikamaru watched her and asked himself, not for the first time, why in the _hell_ he was dating this girl.

They'd been childhood friends, and she'd shown nothing but dislike for him since they were little. It came as a total surprise to him (and the rest of the school, really) when she asked him out two years ago. He deduced a little later that it was to somehow make the Uchiha – her and Sakura's childhood crush (read: Love of Their Lives) – jealous. Shikamaru had laughed outright at the stupid thought. Putting aside the fact that Sasuke barely knew they _existed_, let alone their feelings of undying love, he knew precisely why the Uchiha would not show any interest in the girls.

Or _any_ girl for that matter.

And he thought girls were supposed to be the more... _sensitive_ of the two sexes. If they haven't realized by now why the Uzumaki and the Uchiha were always together, they were either much too love-stricken, or just really slow. Shikamaru mused it was the latter.

An assumption he knew was partially ridiculous as Sakura herself was rather intelligent, but he couldn't help himself as he watched the girls unashamedly flirt with Sasuke like they'd been doing their whole lives without success. Shikamaru was jealous of the drive these girls had... where'd they get all that _energy_ and that _desire_ to repeatedly prostrate and demean themselves in front of someone who'd rejected them 210 of the times they'd offered their undying and eternal love?

Regardless of the fact that Shikamaru knew Ino had no real emotional interest in him and was – if phrased without thought of decorum – _using him_, Shikamaru hadn't bothered breaking it off with her, especially because _she_ had yet to let go. It was too much of a pain to argue with her. Ino being Ino, he knew she wouldn't stand being the dum_pee_. If anything, he just had to wait for her to finally assume the role of dum_per_. He didn't really care nor mind. It was too troublesome to bother.

In a way, Shikamaru was in awe at how long Naruto's and Sasuke's relationship lasted. Then again, it was probably because the blonde was too dense and therefore had no capacity to get jealous, and the Uchiha really wasn't attracted to girls no matter how many times they batted their painted eyelashes at him. Shikamaru wondered what the Uchiha saw in the blonde... but decided not to bother going into _that_ train of thought. He'd probably just get a headache trying to figure _Naruto_ out.

The lights dimmed and the hall suddenly grew quiet. Finally. Shikamaru almost sighed out loud in relief. Three beams of light shone down on the stage and three forms suddenly appeared out of nowhere as stage steam – probably made from dry ice – floated out of invisible holes in the ground. Shikamaru thought that in the yellowish light, the steam looked like swirling sand.

SabakunoGaara started a depressing a cappella solo – something about being alone, hated and isolated. Shikamaru had to admit, the boy could at least keep himself in tune. He does much better than both Ino and Sakura at the very least, and that would somewhat justify their admiration for him. Somewhat. Shikamaru watched, slightly amused, as the boy gripped the microphone and sang into it, knuckles growing paler and paler. His right hand brushed away his red curls so the whole world could see the blood red tattoo he had on his forehead. Shikamaru looked from his dark eye make up, which made him look more like a panda than anything else considering the kid's pale complexion – and his mother told _him_ he needed to get out more? _Sheesh_ – to his strange, blood red outfit. Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle.

What an emo.

Drums started and Shikamaru focused on Sabakuno Kankuro, the figure in the light beam in the middle. He looked passionate about the drumming and he devoted his whole self into the instrument. Shikamaru admired that... and he probably would have admired him much more if Kankuro hadn't worn the strangest set of clothes and make up Shikamaru had ever seen. Why anyone would want to coat their eyes and lips with _that_ much purple was beyond Shikamaru's comprehension... and that didn't happen very often. Shikamaru decided to file that away and never return to it. He didn't want to have to stop by a convenience store on the way home and buy pain reliever. His head was threatening to throb as it was. Hmm, maybe he should just toss that file to the shredder completely.

Gaara suddenly struck a chord on his way too distorted guitar and the crowd started screaming, the spell of Gaara's voice finally broken as they recognized one of their songs... Wow. Now they can _sing along_. Shikamaru never did understand why people felt compelled to sing along during concerts. You never see this kind of behaviour during an orchestra performance or a classical music presentation. People pay – big money, mind you – to watch someone perform... and yet, when they do come over and begin "performing", the whole world feels compelled to ruin said performance with their own crappy singing and half-made-up lyrics.

It was ridiculous. And annoying.

Shikamaru didn't notice when the bass started, but heard it now. He looked up to watch Sabakuno Temari play a kick ass solo. He had to admit, she was pretty good. Besides that, out of the three of the Sabakuno siblings, she was the only one who looked... remotely normal. He couldn't say her _outfit_ was totally normal, but at least she didn't have "emo!" screaming out from very pore. She had minimal, if any, make up on giving her a sort of natural, mature beauty. But, she looked way too... strong, was the only word Shikamaru could find to describe her. She had a strong jaw, a strong face, a strong forehead, strong-looking arms and legs, and she exuded an aura of hidden strength. A sort of mess-with-me-and-your-cock's-mine-and-I-mean-that-in-a-bad-way aura radiated around her. Shikamaru concluded she was the kind of woman he _really_ needed to avoid.

But he couldn't help being intrigued by her strength.

Truth be told, this was the first time he'd ever really listened to the _Sabaku_ – an interesting name for their group, Shikamaru noted. It was probably a word play from their last name: Sabakuno. After all, _Sabaku_ _no_ Gaara meant Gaara of the Sand. It was, really, rather clever – and he had to say...

He hated them.

He had never heard such noise in his life – this was _music_? Surely the world was going to end at any moment.

And with the way his head was throbbing, he wanted it to end.

Or at least let the bloody ground open up and swallow him.

Please.

He stood there, unimpressed, unmoved and undeterred by the surging crowds around him. He merely continued looking around for something more interesting to watch – and quite often, whether he noticed it himself or not, he'd look up at the intriguing bass player and contemplate what exactly it was that intrigued him about her. In some ways, she looked familiar... and in others, she looked like a complete stranger.

He probably didn't notice himself watching her every time she had a solo.

- - -

Temari tried to swallow a yawn, but failed. Honestly, she didn't see why her father had to insist they all watch this crappy – and infinitely boring – concert. It had been three years since their last visit to Japan, and four years since they'd last seen their father... however some things never changed, she supposed. She really would have preferred to stay in their hotel and sleep, or at the very least do a nice brunch with their father to catch up on old times. Oh but no. He had to insist to take them to a bloody orchestra concert.

Apparently, this was one of the amateur orchestras that her father sponsored. He was a classical music buff, their father. It irritated Temari and her brothers a little that he was supportive of some random strangers who pulled strings but adamant about _their_ vision. Temari reasoned it was probably difficult for him, a retired (and once famous) conductor and present businessman, as well. After all, as children, he had trained them to be classical musicians... but instead they opted to go the "way of the devil". Temari never understood where her father got the idea that his children were _at all_ interested in classical music. Maybe he just had no where to direct his energies and sadness when they lost their mother sixteen years ago.

She looked at Gaara and felt crushed at the obvious animosity that existed between father and son – they were sitting together, but not once had they exchanged a form of friendly greeting, nor anything at all that would give away their father-son relationship. Kankuro and she had accepted long ago the fact that their mother had died at childbirth and that it was not Gaara's fault... but it seemed their father couldn't let it go. Kankuro reckoned it was because to an extent, their father blamed himself and rather than destroy him_self_ with guilt, he preferred to take out his anger on Gaara. Temari thought the whole thing ridiculous and hated her father for turning Gaara into the quiet, reserved (and somewhat emo) boy he was now. Oftentimes, she'd wanted to embrace him and make the hurt disappear... but frankly, the way he stared at the world as if he hated it and it hated him was a little scary. Yeah, just a tad.

She sighed.

Her brother was an emo... and she couldn't do a single _thing_ about it.

The worst thing was, Kankuro didn't give a shit either.

Kankuro at least cared about Gaara, unlike their father, this she knew. But he preferred staying in his room with his blow-up dolls (yes, she knew about his nasty habits... she wished she wasn't so observant... but she was) than to care about the world. About the only thing that interested him other than his little "friends" was the drums.

The three of them shared a passion for music. Punk rock, in particular. She felt the raw, loud and distinct sound of metal and the fast beat of the drums intoxicating. She recalled performing on stage for the first time with her bass – it was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. Many times, she thought it was better than sex. The afterglow, satisfaction and high lasted much longer and definitely hit _much_ harder.

Now, don't get her wrong, she knew there were all sorts of music and hers wasn't only one kind... however, as far as she was concerned it was the only _real_ one, and therefore the only one that mattered. This brought her back to the present and she sighed as the endless Concerto in C continued on. Bloody hell, this same song – or rather, piece, was it? – started _thirteen_ minutes ago. Why were classical pieces so _long_? And so god damn _repetitive_? She looked around at the crowd, almost surprised to find no one nodding off just yet. The first two minutes were cool and everything, but hell... _end the bloody song already_. Or piece. Whatever the fucking hell you want to call it.

She didn't really have anything personal against Mozart or Chopin... but... you know. They're _boring_.

Her eyes lazily travelled across the amateur orchestra, noting how completely dorky half of them looked. She shivered. Their father had wanted the three of them to be one of these freaks. Her eyes continued their lazy trek over said freaks and paused when she saw one of the violinists. His hair was spiky and messy, as if he hadn't bothered fixing it up this morning, and he was playing his violin as if it were only the two of them on the planet. She was intrigued by the lack of effort he seemed to exert while playing the violin, and yet, as principal violinist – she knew at least that much from her childhood training – he had to be pretty talented. Ah, he was one of those genius musicians, wasn't he?

She had started to look at other people when realization finally dawned on her. He _did_ look familiar! Her eyes swivelled back to the principal violinist. _That's the annoying freak from the other night!_ He'd stood there in crowd, sometimes staring at her – she was used to being stared at and appreciated... but the way he looked at her was different... it looked as if he was _studying_ her or something... like she was some sort of specimen in a laboratory... it was a tad unnerving – looking totally uninterested... even... _bored_. She was floored.

No one, as in _no one_ had ever been _bored_ at one of the _Sabaku_'s concerts. _Ever_.

She almost laughed out loud at the irony. Here she was wanting the heavens to open up and pour hot melting lava on them all so the torture would end, and there he was, the guy who was probably thinking the exact same thing at their gig two nights ago, playing _in_ the bloody orchestra – concertmaster, no less – that wouldn't shut the fuck up.

Ha-ha. It was funny.

Hey, at least _their_ songs each lasted only a maximum of _three_ minutes. Not three _hundred_.

She hoped never to have to meet him in person, otherwise she'd probably burst out laughing. Or sock him one. Either way, it would be a bad thing to meet a guy like that. But... she looked to her right where her father sat... knowing her father... he'd probably introduce them all to the orchestra members, one by one. Just so, you know, he could rub it in how perfect _they_ were and how utterly imperfect his own disrespectful, rebellious and insensitive children were. Her father was the kind who just had to make contrasts and comparisons. It was irritating and annoying (not to mention hurtful)... but you got used to it after the first million times. Well, sort of.

Temari stifled yet another yawn and prayed the night would end before she _really _did nod off.

Ay, never mind.

Next thing she knew, Kankuro was discreetly nudging her as they all stood up, following their stiff suit father. Temari stood up, expression unchanging. Oops, she hadn't meant to fall asleep... but oh well. It wasn't like their father noticed anyway. What did it matter? She had the same facial expression as her brothers – grave, unfeeling and screaming "what the fuck am I doing here, anyway?", as she made her way to catch up with her brothers and father.

Growing up with a bunch of guys had taught her to be tough. She sparred with her brothers like it was the most natural thing, and more often than not, Kankuro had made fun of her saying she was probably a guy born accidentally in a woman's body. Gaara – in the few times he _did_ talk – once questioned her sexual preference. She was mortified... and made up for her lack of feminity by dressing as scantily and as "feminine" as she dared. As she grew older, she received the appreciative glances of several guys... especially because of the toned and rather attractive – if she said so herself – body playing football on a daily basis gave her. That, and she was a mighty fine fighter. No man who tried to touch her lasted three seconds.

She was strong.

It was only natural she wanted a strong _man_.

That was really the only reason why she'd never seriously dated anyone. She wasn't, god forbid, _lesbian_.

She smirked as a couple of boys – yes, that's right, _boys_ – gave her appreciative glances. Honestly, these boys were much too young for her. Sometimes she couldn't help but feel disgusted at the way they looked so hungrily at her. Every _boy_ she'd ever met looked at her with those same eyes – it was most excruciatingly nauseating. It took most of her willpower to keep her breakfast down.

Their father stopped in front of a group of young gentlemen putting away their string instruments. He coughed, catching their attention. Some merely glanced his way and nodded, while others stood up and shook his hands. Temari was momentarily disgusted at the fake respect these _boys_ gave her father. Then again, he _was_ the one paying for their pitiful hobby. They needed to suck up to him every now and then.

"Kankuro, Temari," their father said. Temari did not fail to note the absence of Gaara's name. Temari doubted the boy did either. "This is the _Konoha Kokou_ orchestra – they're well known all over Japan."

Temari had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Oh boy, here we go. _Konoha_ boys, eh? Their father always mentioned them the few times they met up. _Always_. It felt as if their father couldn't get over the fact that the _Konoha_'s were better than his own children, no matter what he did. It was kind of sad, true... unfortunately for their father, they couldn't really care less.

"Ah... and here's the genius violinist," their father exclaimed, making his way towards the back of the group. The spiky haired, I-Didn't-Want-To-Go-To-The-Bloody-Rock-Concert boy stood up. Temari nearly smirked at his expression. She could swear he wore a face that pretty much said he would rather be somewhere else right now. "Nara Shikamaru, these are my children. Kankuro, Temari."

Again with the ignoring Gaara's existence. Temari was disgusted with her father.

It seemed the Nara noticed. He looked pointedly at Gaara and then looked at their father. Their father looked a bit taken aback and then turned around to look at Gaara. His eyes widened as if seeing him for the first time, and said awkwardly, "and of course, my youngest, Gaara."

Gaara nodded at Shikamaru who did the same. Temari was surprised, but impressed.

She'd give him that: the boy was brave.

Or maybe too stupid to realize he was endangering his sponsorship.

Their father continued with the introductions. Nara Shikamaru was a promising young talent, currently studying at _Konoha Kokou_ – a prestigious and criminally expensive school – through a musical scholarship. Specifically, he played for the renowned (and apparently legendary) school orchestra as principal violinist and concertmaster, therefore also being the assistant to the conductor. Temari found it amusing how the said genius himself was looking bored throughout their father's little biography of him.

Temari also noted the fact that the Nara didn't seem to make a big deal about the fact that they were famous rock stars and that he had been to their concert just a few nights ago. This troubled Temari a little and unnerved her.

She suddenly felt the desire to grab his collar and ask him why in the hell he did not care they were famous rock stars. For reasons quite unknown to her, it really annoyed her. Especially the way he had looked at her.

It was at that moment that she realized he was looking at her now. The strange thing was, he was looking at her at the exact same way he was the other night – as if she was an interesting lab experiment.

He wasn't looking at her hungrily or with lust-filled eyes... he was looking at her as if she was... _interesting_.

It was distracting.

What was it, dammit! What was so god damn interesting!


	2. Interests

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, language

**Disclaimer:** Characters and names I do not own, the story I do.

- - -

CHAPTER TWO

Ah. Of course. Why hadn't Shikamaru noticed? The reason she looked so familiar that night was because she was the bloody _daughter_ of Sabakuno-_sensei_. He should've noticed the very apparent similarity of their last names. Then again, who would ever think of putting "punk rocker daughter" of "renowned conductor" together? Hmm?

Exactly his point.

He'd seen her once, a few years back. That was the time he was scouted out for his scholarship into _Konoha_. That was really a long time ago, and she'd looked much different. Honestly, if it weren't for Shikamaru's photographic memory, he probably would never have recognized her. He looked at her once again, amused by the apparent annoyance that seemed to exude from her. Her father had insisted that he and his family luncheon with a few members of the orchestra. The three siblings didn't look too excited – then again, Gaara hardly had a change of expression... but Shikamaru figured it was safe to assume he wasn't really pleased.

At the moment, Sabakuno-_sensei _was giving a thorough introduction of Akimichi Chouji, lead tuba player of the orchestra. Of course, Chouji seemed much too preoccupied with his food to listen to whatever Sabakuno-_sensei_ had to say and only grunted whenever a question was asked. Shikamaru admired his best friend – he wasn't _talented_ at the instrument, that much was certain, however, he worked really hard. He had practiced hour after hour every day just so he could stand in the same room as that orchestra he so admired. He had eventually made it in the end, and as much as everyone liked to attribute it to overrated talent (not that Chouji ever countered them), Shikamaru knew it was blood and guts... to him, that seemed _way_ more than whatever _he_ achieved in his lifetime because _he_ was born with "talent". It was times like these that made Shikamaru curse his gifts. He didn't feel right being called number one and all that if he hardly worked for it – it didn't seem fair to all those who worked hard, like Chouji. If he really thought about it, had he not been a "genius" and had he been given a normal life in a normal school... he probably would just end up in a no where job in the middle of... well, nowhere. He didn't know whether it was the fact that he hardly had to put any effort into anything now to get them done or not, but... he just didn't think he'd have the _drive_ to do anything.

Watching clouds was so much more fun.

He looked down at his plate and had to stop himself from making a face. How anyone would pay money to eat this crap was beyond him. Originally he hadn't minded to coming along since he thought he was getting a free meal... but so far he had yet been given anything _edible_ the past twenty minutes. He sighed as he watched Chouji scarf down his food. The kid was amazing, wasn't he?

Shikamaru tried sampling one of the strange wormy things on his plate, and effectively started choking when he looked up to see Temari staring pointedly at him. The annoyance and sheer dislike was palpable. Chouji thumped him on the back and Sabakuno-_sensei_ asked him if he was alright. Shikamaru nodded, still reeling from the surprise. _Geez, what's _her _problem?_ He pointedly looked away, making a mental note not to look in her direction ever again.

But, of course he did.

She was not staring at him now, but he could see a smirk. Was she trying not to laugh?

Shikamaru was floored.

Why had she been staring at him with such... dislike? Shikamaru thought back. He hadn't done anything worth despising him for... yet. So, what exactly warranted that heated glare? Shikamaru chewed on his fork, there being nothing else on his plate worth chewing, or rather, he dared chew.

She was, indeed, a very interesting person.

He needed to stay away from her.

- - -

He just sat there. The whole entire time their father ranted about his accomplishments and achievements and utter perfection... the Nara just _sat_ there, looking bored, and completely uninterested. It didn't seem to phase their father at all, but it was just a little irritating that she and her brothers were being insulted using _him_ as a comparison, and he couldn't even bother _pretending_ to look humble or modest or ashamed of his bloody self.

It was _infuriating_. Just a tad.

It served him right to choke on that... thing... he was eating. Whatever it was. God knows, she didn't know what was on her _own_ plate, let alone the annoying one's. She was relieved when they broke party and went their separate ways. She knew she would probably not see him again for the next couple of years. If she was forced to see him again, she'd probably punch that annoying I-Don't-Care-About-Anything face of his in and their father would never let her see the end of it.

She sighed and continued her solitary walk around the city. She was bored and didn't really have anything to do so she'd decided to step outside and take a nice little walk. Kankuro was too busy with his dolls, and Gaara was sitting in his brooding corner, lyric-writing mode on. And so, she was alone. Ah well, she liked solitary walks. It was much better than walking with a bunch of guys who would just attract attention. Once the girls started rushing in asking for autographs, what then? Their walk would've been effectively rendered over.

She paused in front of a music store. She walked in, pushing her sunglasses – she wore them so she would be harder to recognize – up, with the intention of looking at some nice electric basses. Instead, she was confronted with a bunch of violins, violas and the smell of wood polish. She pouted. _Damn, wrong store_. She looked around. Actually, the smell of wood polish wasn't so bad. Behind the counter there was a white-haired man with his nose buried in a book. Temari smirked at the book he was reading – Kankuro loved those too. Temari walked around the store for the sake of it – she didn't have anything else better to do. Besides, it'd look weird to walk out right after she just got in. Eventually, something caught her eye.

_Hmm... A double bass, eh?_

Four strings. She wondered. The string bass looked similar to her bass guitar. Looking around to make sure no one was present, particularly the man behind the counter, she unhooked the big instrument from its stand and leaned it against her. _Man, it's huge!_ She placed her fingers on the neck and plucked at the strings with a little hesitation. It sounded different from her guitar, that's for sure... but it wasn't a bad sound. It was more... whole. Deep. Sort of powerful. She liked the feel of power.

She experimented a bit, moving her hand across the neck to get the feel for it. She tried to imagine where the frets would have been and tried to see if playing it that way would work. Eventually, she managed to get the hang of it. Within fifteen minutes she was playing scales and arpeggios with impressive fluency. She was so engrossed in the instrument that she was startled (and practically sent to another galaxy) when she heard the sound of a familiar voice. She turned around wide-eyed to see Shikamaru paying the man at the counter. _Holy shit. How long has he been there?_

"Thanks, Kakashi-_sensei_," he nodded at the man behind the counter who did likewise. Shikamaru turned around, and looked a little surprised to find that she was looking at him. He smirked. Temari's eyes grew wider. He... _smirked_?

"You're not too bad, you know," he said, turning around. "I think you sound better playing a double bass than a bass guitar."

Temari grew red. Well, at least it felt like she did. She never blushed – it didn't show on her face. Displaying weakness was never an option for her, ever. Her voice remained even as she asked, "How long have you been listening?"

"Hmm," Shikamaru said, pausing and turning around. "Well, I was in this store long before you walked in. So..."

_What!_ Why didn't Temari notice!

"I guess, from the beginning?" he grinned. "That was your first time touching a double bass, wasn't it?"

She nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Not bad."

With that, the Nara walked out of the store, leaving Temari a little bit more than just a tad irritated.

Did he just say... she was better at the _string bass_ than her bass _guitar_? She fumed. That _bastard_. How dare he! The guitar was her _life_... he had no idea how hard she'd worked all this time to get as good as she was. She had to prevent herself from slamming the double bass back into its stand and she stomped out of the store, too angry to hear the quiet _Come back again!_ that came from behind Kakashi's book.

- - -

_Hmm... That was fairly interesting_, Shikamaru thought as he trekked back home, violin case in hand. When he was forced to leave the comfort of his bed this morning to retrieve his restrung violin at Kakashi-_sensei_'s store, he thought it was a pain. But... that pain seemed to be worth it to witness such a rare sight. For someone who'd had no experience with a double bass before, it really was rather impressive. Shikamaru hummed and looked up. Was she some sort of genius? It seemed she herself hadn't noticed yet.

"Shikamaru!" a friendly voice pierced his thoughts causing Shikamaru to still and look towards the source of said voice. One look at who screamed it and Shikamaru started turning around. He could always take the long way home, after all.

"Dude!" the voice persisted. "Don't be such an ass!" Inuzuka Kiba was much too quick for him and Shikamaru was quickly turned around. He faced a grinning dog-like boy and moaned. Out loud. He didn't even bother trying to hide his annoyance. Kiba just laughed. After knowing Shikamaru for so long, he was used to it.

"Just the man we were looking for, dude!" he said, grabbing his shoulders and dragging him over to the group waiting for him. He waved at his friends and grinned, once again. "Look who I found, everyone!"

Aburame Shino nodded at Shikamaru and continued tuning his viola, not bothering to remove his sunglasses. Hyuuga Hinata smiled sweetly like she always did, but this time it had a tinge of apology in it – probably because she knew Kiba had dragged Shikamaru here. Shikamaru waited for the bombshell... but it never came. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Kiba, almost afraid to ask the inevitable question. "Okay. What do you want?"

Kiba feigned a hurt face. "Ouch, man, you hurt me with that tone."

Shikamaru continued looking at him, as if bored of the situation already. "Seriously... I have better things to do." He started turning but Kiba held on to him once again. "Look man, we need you."

Shikamaru paused (and not without a sigh), giving him consent to continue.

Kiba smiled. "I promised sis I'd help her out today. You know, entertain the old people as they walk around the park and shit like that," Kiba waved his arms as if doing so would help his situation. His sister worked for the city government and was in charge of parks and recreation, this much Shikamaru knew. "But, as you can see, there are only three of us. But, in a string quartet we need _four_. Hinata's cousin – who promised to show," he seemed to spit the words out, enunciating each syllable, causing Hinata to wince at each word, "_didn't_... and now, we're in a jam."

Shikamaru looked around him. Shino was at his viola, Hinata played the violin. He didn't see a cello.

"And you have your violin _with_ you! That's brilliant!"

Shikamaru looked down at his violin case. _Dammit_.

"Look, Kiba I'd love to bu-"

"It's not like you won't be compensated." Kiba grinned, winking. Shikamaru couldn't help but shudder. The kid should stop winking, it did _not_ look good. Shikamaru sighed yet again – he seemed to be doing that quite a lot today, huh? – and figured it was a losing battle to argue with the over-enthusiastic Inuzuka. Ah well, his bed wouldn't be going anywhere... and really, people were supposed to spend Sunday mornings outdoors in the first place, right?

As if reading his mind, Kiba grinned and told Shikamaru to start tuning up. The show was going to start in a few minutes. Shikamaru wondered if he really was _that_ predictable. He hadn't said anything about agreeing, but it seemed Kiba was pretty sure he had. Ah well, it was too early in the late morning to care about that right now. Hell, it was too early, as far as Shikamaru was concerned, to care about anything at all.

Hinata asked if she could tune her violin based on his, and he agreed since he'd just had it restrung and assumed that Kakashi-_sensei_, no matter how unpunctual the guy was, would have at least tuned it before giving it back. Shino listened in on the tuning session and tweaked his own instrument. Suddenly, out of no where, the sound of a dying moose (or something along those lines) exploded. Shikamaru turned around in surprise, still reeling from the shockwaves of the huge sound. Kiba grinned sheepishly from behind a double bass.

Wait. A _double bass_?

"Where's the cello, Kiba?"

Kiba scratched his head. "Well, okay, I know we're supposed to use a cello and all that... but, like, mine got busted and it's still at the store. I tried getting it back today but they said they needed more time or something. I tried renting a cello from them, but this baby's all they had to spare," he shrugged. "Some sort of wedding or something like that."

Shikamaru rubbed his temple. A double bass? He wondered if it was going to work out. Sure, they'd still literally be a string _quartet_, but the bassist needed to be exceptionally good at it in order to make up for its low pitch. He watched as Kiba felt his way around the big instrument and sighed, unsure if he even wanted to hear the answer to his following question.

"Kiba, do you even _play_ the double bass?"

Kiba looked up, eyes a little unsure. Shikamaru groaned. He knew it. Kiba was a cellist. And unfortunately for Kiba's case, the phrase "you can't teach old dogs new tricks" rings a resonating true.

"I can manage, yeah? It has four strings just like my cello... I can," he smiled, "manage somehow. I think."

Shikamaru stared at him. He sighed for probably the thousandth time that morning and wished it would start raining. As he set up with Hinata and Shino and listened to Kiba's well-intentioned but poorly-executed attempts at the double bass, he couldn't help but dread exactly what he managed to get himself into. He looked at the pieces they had line up.

Oh _great_. Mozart.

Damn. And he thought today would be a good day.

- - -

Temari was storming down the streets still trying to calm herself and restraining herself from jumping at and mutilating anyone who dared talk to her in her bad mood when she heard it: string music. Her eyes opened wide behind her glasses and she combed her head with her fingers in exasperation. Today just wasn't her day, was it? She looked around, trying to identify the source of the music so she could stay away from it. It was coming from the park. She grimaced and started the opposite direction... when something caught her ear. She turned around and looked towards the park, cursing her own curiosity.

There was something wrong with the bass. She could definitely hear it. The bassist was trying, but something was off.

She leaned against a tree that was a few feet away from the group that was playing something from, if Temari remembered correctly from her childhood training, Mozart. She gave up trying to identify whether it was Quartet No. 1 or 16. Mozart really should've improved his titling skills if he was planning on composing so many goddamn pieces. All she knew was that it was definitely a challenging piece. She looked up at the struggling bassist and couldn't help but smirk. The poor kid was trying, but really, really failing. She looked at the rest of the group. A shady guy on viola, hm. A pale, weak-looking girl on a violin.

She froze.

_Nara_ on the other violin?

Argh. Was she _cursed_ or something?

The piece ended – thank god – and Temari considered walking away or insulting them. Shikamaru answered that question for her when he looked up from his piece, saw her, and stared at her.

What was with the fucking _stare_, god dammit!

She smirked at him – mostly because she didn't know what else to do – and standing up straight, she half-shouted, "Your bassist sucks ass, Nara." She made to turn and go when Shikamaru did something that surprised her.

"Hey, wait!"

She stilled. She turned around to see Shikamaru jogging towards her. Her eyes grew wide and she raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru stopped right in front of her, panting, as if he'd never had so much exercise in his life. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Yeah, that'd probably be just right. He looked up at her, still staring and said, "You can read notes, right?"

She looked at him, then up at the group who was looking at them strangely, back at him, then at the crappy bassist. Putting two and two together, she laughed. "No way, man. No way." He was dreaming. Yeah, _dreaming_.

"Look, we really need it. Kiba's no good at the bass. He's a cellist who _thinks_ he is."

"Why do you even _have_ a double bass there? Aren't quartets supposed to have two violins, a viola and a _cello_?"

"Yeah, well. Long story, don't want to bother explaining." He looked bored and impatient.

Temari raised an eyebrow. Ah, she was testing his patience, was she? She... kind of liked that. Just a tad.

"Whatever, man. I'm not doing it." She made to leave but Shikamaru grabbed her elbow and started dragging her towards their group. She smirked at his attempt and wrung herself free. Shikamaru looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Please, Temari. We really need it."

She stilled. What did he just call her? She popped yet another eyebrow but Shikamaru ignored her question and held her wrist instead and started dragging her away. For reasons she couldn't explain, she couldn't fight back. They reached the rest of the group who looked a bit confused. Shino, Hinata and Kiba looked from Shikamaru to Temari, and back again. Temari sighed and removed her sunglasses, placing them on top of her head. Temari couldn't help but note how they didn't jump up and squeal when they saw her face. She wondered for a second if they didn't – god forbid – _recognize _her.

"Okay. As you probably already know the cello's pitched higher than the double bass, that's why you have to improvise a bit when playing to make it sound right. Kiba's been trying to do that, but this is basically his first time with the double bass," Shikamaru started explaining. Kiba smiled sheepishly at Temari and shrugged. Shikamaru took a copy of their next piece and handed it to Temari. "You know this piece?"

Temari's eyes quickly ran over the page. Mozart's Quartet No. 23 – it was a challenging (oh forget that, _hard_) piece. She knew it alright, but... she looked at the notes... he didn't expect her to _play_ it, did he? She nodded slowly, unsure of what was coming up next.

"Excellent."

Shikamaru told Kiba to give her the double bass which he did without hesitation. Shino and Hinata continued watching, but this time they pretty much understood what Shikamaru was trying to do – he was trying to save all their asses.

Temari held the double bass and Kiba handed her the bow. She stared at it.

"Nara, I've never used a bow in my life. How do you expect me to-"

Kiba nearly fell over. Shikamaru shook his head. "It's easy."

He went over to her and fixed the bow to the proper grip in her hand. He was standing pretty close to her and she could feel his breath on her cheeks. She didn't understand why, but her heart started thumping much louder and faster than what was considered normal. _Oh god_, _is the Nara making _me _nervous! _She felt like banging her head on a wall somewhere. Shikamaru meanwhile, oblivious to the mental torture he was provoking in Temari, showed her how to stroke the double bass.

Fifteen minutes later, Temari found herself playing in a string quartet. In her head, she kept wishing a tornado or a thunder storm or _anything_ would start before someone she knew showed up. If her father heard about this, she would _never_ hear the end of it.

It was an interesting experience, though. She felt a sort of intimacy between the four of them, and it was strange. She didn't know any of them and yet, she could make music with them. The notes and the way they blended with each other seemed to speak _for_ them. It was an odd, yet simultaneously calming feeling. Completely different from performing on stage with her electric, but it was... intoxicating in its own way. It was different... but not necessarily worse. It was a _different_ sort of excitement. She had struggled a little at first, but eventually got the hang of it. For the first time in her life, she thanked her father for forcing her to learn how to read notes as a child. After a while, a small crowd had gathered to watch and they all stood there amazed by the youngsters who apparently played really well. This wasn't a first for Temari, but she couldn't help but feel a little good about herself.

Sometime after one o'clock, the group disbanded. Kiba the supposed cellist, thanked her profusely for saving his ass and disappeared with the bass and his dog (where'd he come from!) in tow. Hinata, the pale girl, bowed her farewell and left with Shino the shady guy who did the same. Temari sat down on the bench and watched after them. They were nice people... but something bothered her about them. They seemed... _too_ nice. Suddenly, something cold was next to her cheek. She looked up to see Shikamaru handing her a can of pop. She took it, nodding her thanks and watched him sit next to her, opening his own can. She took a long-awaited gulp out of hers and sighed her relief and unspoken thanks. It had been a long morning.

"You really saved us back there. Thanks."

Temari nodded. Still contemplating what it was exactly that bothered her about Shikamaru's friends. Shikamaru looked at her intently, tilted his head... and suddenly chuckled. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Kiba didn't mind you taking his spot because he himself knew he sucked," Shikamaru began. "We're all musicians here. We don't play to show up anyone, or to prove we're better than the other. We play because we love the way it... sounds and feels. Shino and Hinata were thankful for you. Kiba had no reason to be jealous. In fact, I think he may have a small crush on you now."

Temari's eyes widened. For a second there, it felt as if he'd read her mind. And that's not really possible, is it?

Shikamaru smiled at her, "If he asks me for your number, what should I say?"

Temari laughed. "Nara, if you wanted to hit on me, do it directly and not behind some ruse."

Shikamaru looked taken aback. "Hit on you? You're kidding, right?"

Temari's eyes gleamed in the afternoon sun. "Should I be?"

Shikamaru looked at her, confused. She chuckled. She liked playing with him. He looked pretty cute without his I'm-Bored-Save-Me face. She paused.

What did she just say!

She looked at him. She once again felt the need to bang her head on a wall somewhere in order to regain her sanity which seemed to be AWOL right now.

"So, d'you play any other instruments?"

This startled her. Was he trying to change the topic?

"Yeah. The guitar."

Shikamaru looked at her. She chuckled. "You know... the one with six strings?"

"Ah."

"That was actually how I got into rock music. When we – my brothers and I – were children, our father forced us to learn classical music and stuff. The classical guitar was the only thing classical I ever went near. I guess he was still a bit disappointed. He'd wanted us to play in an orchestra he conducted, you know?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I thought as much. That's why I was surprised to find out _you_ out of all people was his daughter."

She looked at him. He shrugged and said, "Well, you know. Rocker daughter and famous conductor father – they don't really match."

Temari couldn't help but smile. Ah, so he _did_ know who she was. Shikamaru saw her face change and chuckled.

"Yeah. Of course I know who you are _Sabaku no_ Temari. Some of my friends are your stalkers. The only reason Hinata, Shino and Kiba didn't make a big fuss out of you was because they don't listen to anything other than classical, trust me. They don't even know who the _Rolling Stones_ are."

Temari laughed. But inside, she was unnerved again. What is it with that mind-reading-type thing he keeps doing? Was she really _that_ transparent or was he just over-perceptive? It... bothered her.

"I never liked classical music. No offence, but it's boring. That's probably the reason why I got into rock. You see, after I started learning the classical guitar, that was when I started... _noticing_ guitar music, you know?"

Shikamaru looked like he didn't.

"Well," Temari tried explaining, fishing for words in her head. "When you listen to, say, a pop song or whatever, do you notice the fact that in the middle there's an electric guitar solo? Well, before learning the guitar, I never noticed. I mostly focused on the lyrics and stuff... but when I did start noticing it, the instrument got more exciting and I started appreciating it more." Temari shrugged. It was hard to explain... but it was something like that. Shikamaru nodded and looked forward thoughtfully. Temari wondered if he was still actually in the conversation. "How about you? What got you into the violin?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "My mother was always on my back about not doing anything and all that. Said, I was lazy." Temari couldn't help but smirk which Shikamaru probably caught but chose to ignore. Well, at least he admitted to his own faults. "So, I just agreed to learn whatever instrument she wanted me to learn. It was too much of a pain to bother fighting back, you know? Less energy would be wasted if I actually listened to her. Fighting that woman is a losing battle," he took a final gulp from his can and scrunched it. "After that, it turned out I just happened to be some sort of musical genius and I pretty much went from there. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if I decided to play the piano instead."

Temari blinked and stared at him, eyes wide and eyebrows arched. Then, she burst out laughing.

"Too much of a pain to fight your mother?" she said in between gasps. Shikamaru was looking at her now as if she'd gone crazy. "That's rich. What kind of a life is that? Oh god."

Shikamaru continued looking at her, still looking confused, only making Temari laugh harder.

"Do you not put effort into _any_thing? You just do what you're told since it's too much of a 'pain' to fight the flow, don't you?" It was kind of funny. "You know what? That's pretty lame."

Temari stood up, still laughing. She took one last gulp from her can and threw it into the bin next to the bench. She looked at Shikamaru who was suddenly looking at her in a completely different way. Her heart skipped a beat. _Argh! Stop doing that!_ She turned around and raised her hand behind her as a wave good bye.

"Try to live life a little, Nara. It'd be a nice change."


	3. Suspicions

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff,language

**Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own any of the characters and names, thank you.

**Author's note:** This chapter actually varies a little from the original version since I had to get rid of a few things to respect policies (so, you know, I don't get banned). Of course, any changes made are inconsequential to the actual plot. However, if anyone is interested (or curious), feel free to contact me. This story _is_ actually archived somewhere else and I'd be more than happy to give you the url... or, you can just read this version since it's really more or less the same.

- - -

CHAPTER THREE

Shikamaru watched Temari's back slowly disappear into the crowd. She looked good under the hot afternoon sun. Her blonde hair shone brightly in the light. _Hit on her? That woman's crazy_. Still, he was, maybe, just a little disappointed she hadn't given him her number. Shikamaru looked up at the sky with a sigh.

Temari was way too interesting for her own good. Unlike anyone he'd ever met before, she was a tough one to understand. Shikamaru was not used to getting confused – he couldn't tell whether he liked it or hated it. He wished he could just file _this_ away, but... he couldn't. He didn't know why, either. And that irritated him. And frankly, Shikamaru never got irritated. It was much too tiring.

But... he couldn't help noting that, well, they'd sounded _good_ together. Shikamaru would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't even just a _little_ bit impressed with her. But the thing he found most impressive was how much of a natural she was. He knew that she would've probably handled the double bass better than Kiba, but he didn't think she'd be _that_ good at it. Shikamaru continued staring at the clouds, lost in thought. He recalled Kiba mentioning something to him (actually, "mentioning" is a bit of an understatement here) about a competition coming up. Originally, Shikamaru had planned on pulling his usual "I'm too busy, sorry" routine... however... Shikamaru looked back at where Temari's retreating back should've been... a string _quintet_ might make it more... interesting.

Shikamaru's musings were interrupted by the shrill sound of his cell phone. Hmm... He really needed to change that ring tone. He groaned inwardly when he saw the number on the caller ID. He contemplated not picking up, but figured Ino would probably give him hell to pay if he didn't. And so, Ino's over-enthusiastic and girly voice was soon bombarding his ears. He couldn't help but contrast it with Temari's sure and calm one. Ino wanted him to meet her at the CD store. Shikamaru for the life of him couldn't imagine why, but surrendered in the end. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't going to let it go too easily.

He begrudgingly got up from his pleasant position on the bench and pondered which way would be the fastest to the CD store. If he let Ino get there first, he'd be given hell for making her wait... and _then_ agreeing to meet up with her at all would've been rendered completely pointless.

_What kind of a life is that?_

Temari's laughter still rung in his head – he also couldn't help remembering what a refreshing sound it was. It was an honest laugh, not a forced one. Shikamaru shook his head. He knew perfectly well he lived a pathetic life, but he always thought it was too much of an energy waste to bother changing it. He'd survived his seventeen years so far... he didn't need to change it. He was satisfied.

_Try to live life a little, Nara. It'd be a nice change._

Would it be? Shikamaru felt his forehead. He felt like he was catching something. He'd never thought about one thing for so long before... and quite frankly, it was scaring him. Just a little.

He reached the CD store with not much incident and stood at the entrance to wait for Ino. Something, however, soon caught his ears. He shook his head. He really _was_ catching something, wasn't he? He walked in and listened to the background music being played. It was an over-the-top pop song – the usual, "I wanna be your girl, let me be your girl" kind of pop song. However, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice that... the instrumental accompaniment was... well, a guitar. And all of a sudden, a guitar solo ripped. A simple, nothing-compared-to-a-metal-group kind of guitar solo... but a guitar solo nonetheless. He'd heard this song a million times before, but couldn't say he ever noticed. He usually heard the opening line, "Maybe I wanna be your girl" and dismissed it as fluffy and with no musical sense. But, now... he listened to the accompaniment. Hmm.

_That's when I started _noticing _guitars, you know?_

Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh at the influence Temari apparently had over him. He had no idea know he was so easily influenced. Now, _that_ felt just a little pathetic. He couldn't help but chuckle. He stepped outside of the store to encounter a smiling Ino about to cross the street.

"Shikamaru!" she shouted, when she saw him, while waving cheerily from across the street.

Shikamaru couldn't help but sigh impatiently. Today seemed to be a very long day for some strange reason. Were Sundays usually this long? Shikamaru wondered what in heaven's name Ino could possibly want with him today. Then again, he most likely didn't _want_ to know what she wanted – it always involved him spending ridiculous amounts of money he didn't even have.

Ino jumped up in front of him and grinned. Shikamaru looked at her warily.

"Hello, Ino."

"That's no way to greet your girlfriend, Shikamaru!" she pouted.

He chose to ignore her. "You wanted something from me?"

She looked at him, wide-eyed for a second, and then looked at the store. "Yeah. You're gonna get me a CD."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"_Sabaku_'s new single is out. I want it, and you're buying it for me. Okay?"

Shikamaru looked at her like she'd gone crazy – in fact, she probably had. "Why would I-"

"Come on!" she dragged him into the shop, ignoring the fact that he looked like he would rather she didn't. Fifteen annoying minutes of Ino pouting and crying later, Shikamaru finally gave in to the whining girl and bought her the bloody CD. It really wasn't too expensive... it was just that... you know... she should stop _doing_ stuff like this. Honestly.

Shikamaru bade farewell to Ino, assuming that was all he needed to do for boyfriend duty, and turned around, purposely not offering to walk the girl home. Ino stared after him for a while and then shouted, "Shikamaru, wait!"

Shikamaru stopped walking, but didn't bother turning around. "Look, Ino. I'm tired. Let's hang out some other time, alright?" He really did sound tired. He hadn't stayed outside for so long in such a long time, he _really_ wanted to stay home and sleep. Or something. He just wasn't in the mood to bear with Ino right now. "I'll see you at school, alright?"

He turned around to face her and with an apologetic smile he said, "I'm really sorry, Ino."

With that, he walked away leaving behind a very displeased Ino. He probably didn't hear her when she said softly, probably to herself, "Shikamaru, you dumb ass."

- - -

Temari stood in front of the small music store where she'd first touched the string bass. She shook her head. Was there something wrong with her? Sure, she may have enjoyed it a little... just a tad. But, to actually even consider _thinking_ about... no. No way. She turned and started walking back, only to stop again after a few steps and backtrack. She looked through the window display once again. Well... it's not like she couldn't _afford_ it. As far as she was concerned, she was loaded with cash. You know, being a famous rock star and everything kind of did that to a person.

She stood there, still torn. She knew she looked ridiculous... but... really. She sighed. She was being completely and utterly ridiculous. After all, what was she going to _do_ with the thing? It was too big to hide and her father was surely going to ask her what it was doing with her... and it was so freaking _heavy_...

"Damn. Is it just me or is this town getting smaller and smaller?"

Temari turned to see an amused looking Nara watching her. She almost fell over. She could've sword she'd said goodbye to this loser two hours ago. She rolled her eyes for the sake of it and turned to walk away again. However, her indecision was still tugging at her. Shikamaru chuckled. "You were thinking of buying one, weren't you?"

Temari quickly turned around and eyed him. Was he making fun of her? Wait, no. Besides that, _how in the hell did he know!_

It seemed like Temari's facial expression answered all his questions for he started laughing. Temari felt like slamming his head against the window. But, no. Control. Control was key.

"Well, you're definitely looking at the wrong store." Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and started walking back in the direction he came from. For the second time today, Temari found that she couldn't fight him, which was ridiculous. Shikamaru was a scrawny guy barely much taller than her. She could've easily taken him with a single kick or upper cut. But... she couldn't. Shikamaru continued dragging her along the street, and Temari just followed him. She felt stupid for doing so, but she really could not help it. Eventually, about 10 minutes later, he stopped. They were in front of a music store, one of those big, corporate kinds, not like the one that Kakashi or whatever it was person owned. Shikamaru finally let go of her wrist and with a "Let's go." pushed open the door and walked in.

Temari stared after him, contemplating whether she should just walk away and leave him there or actually do something stupid like _follow _him. Well, he _did_ go through the effort of bringing her here, didn't he? Though she hadn't known him for long, she knew 'effort' was not something you could easily find in _his_ dictionary. She shrugged and pushed her sunglasses up, like a headband. She pushed open the door and walked in. Immediately, the air-conditioning cooled her. She sighed. She hadn't realized actually how hot she felt. It was actually pretty nice in there. She looked around and was a little impressed. To her right there were rows of electric guitars. Her hands began twitching – she felt like walking into that beautiful-looking row of guitars. Right now. She looked around for Shikamaru and she noticed him talking to a weird looking man in green. Temari couldn't help but smirk at the man's ugly haircut. Shikamaru must've noticed her watching for he waved and told her that he'd get back to her in a sec, just sit still and wait.

She raised an eyebrow. _Sit still and wait?_ Was he ordering her around? Was the _Nara_ ordering _her_ around? She almost laughed. She shrugged, gave Shikamaru the finger – though it didn't seem like he noticed – and walked towards the beautiful rows of guitars. She picked up a nice looking Fender, and after looking around and making sure no prying eyes were present, she sat down on the stool and plugged the baby into the amplifier that happened to be there.

She placed her hands on the fret and strummed. Then, she started softly singing... it was a song about how she faced each day with a mask on, and how it didn't really matter any way. Life was just a game, after all.

It felt as if it was just her and the guitar in the world... no one else.

... _E minor_...

Then, she stopped. She turned around to see Nara watching her intently. She didn't know what told her he was there... she sort of just felt him. She raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru who shook his head.

"No, please. Don't stop."

She laughed. "That's about as far as I am when it comes to the lyrics."

Shikamaru looked at her. "You wrote that song?"

She nodded, standing up and unplugging the guitar. _Damn_. She hadn't meant to be caught.

"It doesn't sound like the kind of music your group usually does..."

Temari looked at him. "Gaara's the songwriter of our group, really. Kankuro and he would never agree to playing anything I write." She made a face. "Guys, you know."

Shikamaru nodded. "Hey, could you play the rest of it? It sounds good."

Temari was taken aback. No one had ever asked her to play any of _her_ songs before. She stared at him for a second, and when she realized he was serious, she sat back down. She plugged the guitar back in, and after looking at him strangely she held the guitar and played a verse and the chorus. She was a bit intimidated at how Shikamaru looked so serious, staring at her hand as she strummed different chords. Was he trying to learn how to _play_ it?

"Hey, do that chord again," he said suddenly. Temari looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"D'you even _play_ the guitar?"

Shikamaru shrugged. Temari chuckled, but did the _Cadd9_ for him again anyway. Temari watched Shikamaru and couldn't help but think how... _different_... he looked when he was concentrating. None of that I'm-Bored-With-Life business – when he was actually interested in something, he gave out a different kind of aura. She liked it.

She stilled. _Damn, what did I just say?_

"So... that chord," Shikamaru said, interrupting her thoughts, and walking towards her. He positioned himself behind her and lowered himself so he could hold the neck of the guitar. Temari didn't fail to notice that their cheeks were practically touching. He tried to do the chord, effectively making contact with her fingers, causing Temari to involuntarily jump. Shikamaru looked at her, confused.

Temari coughed and regained her composure. She was being weird today, wasn't she? She took his fingers and positioned them the right way. She didn't have to tell him to hold them down firmly – he seemed to do it naturally. She also noticed that his fingers were callused. _Well, genius or not, I guess you still need to _practice_ the violin to be _that_ good, eh? _She couldn't help but smirk. His hand felt very strong indeed.

"Not too bad. I imagine this is your first time on a guitar?" She turned to look at him, immediately finding out it was a mistake to do so. She'd forgotten how close their proximity was. Their noses bumped and she stared into his eyes that were much too close for comfort. She tried to turn her head away, but found his hand constricting her movement. The hand he was using on the fret was suddenly holding her chin. Her eyebrows arched. She could feel the calluses as his fingers stroked her cheek, pushing a wayward lock of blond hair away from her eyes. She couldn't quite understand why it sent fire up her spine.

She didn't know why she leant in and kissed him either. It just seemed like... the thing to do.

Neither of them closed their eyes. Shikamaru was probably too shocked at what was happening and Temari wasn't the kind of girl who'd close her eyes before her partner. Their lips touched as they stared at each other. Temari nearly laughed out loud at the look he gave her – complete and utter shock mixed with total bewilderment. She liked it. She liked teasing him. She had began lightly sucking on his lower lip, intending to tease him some more, when, he did something she never expected him to do.

He kissed her back.

Her eyes widened in shock as his hand made its way to the back of her neck, and he lightly closed his eyes. She tried to push him away, but found herself giving into him instead. The way he was lightly and warily sucking her upper lip made her feel a little dizzy. For the life of her, she didn't understand why she felt like closing her _own_ eyes.

An amused-sounding cough interrupted them, causing Temari to crash painfully back into reality and the realization of what she was currently doing. With all her willpower, she turned her head away, losing contact with Shikamaru's lips. Her hand, of their own accord, flew to her mouth. She couldn't really believe what just happened.

"Sorry to interrupt you," said the voice that interrupted him. "But I got that thing you were asking for, Shikamaru-_kun_."

"Thanks, Gai-_san_," was Shikamaru's reply. Temari heard Gai-_san_'s footsteps retreat into the background. She stood up, purposely not looking at Shikamaru, and started putting away the Fender she was holding.

"Temari, just now..."

Oh great. _Do we really have to talk about it, Nara? It was a spur of the moment thing. A... random... argh... I don't know!_

"Well," she said, turning to face him with a confident smirk, "I had to do something to get your filthy little hands of me, you know."

_Where on _Earth_ did _that_ shit come from!_

Shikamaru looked at her, uncertainty apparent in his eyes. She looked away and prayed she wasn't blushing like she felt she was. Please stop looking at her, already. _Please_. _God damn it._

"Ah, right," he said finally, standing up as well and dusting himself. "I'm... sorry about that. Spur of the moment thing."

_Stole the words right out of my mouth, bastard._

"I couldn't help myself. You looked so beautiful holding the guitar and smiling like that."

Temari felt her jaw drop. Was that what she thought it was? Shikamaru started walking towards that Gai person. She stayed rooted to the spot and stared after him, jaw still unmoved from its less than eloquent position. Eventually, Shikamaru turned and raised an eyebrow at her. "You coming or what?"

Temari shut her mouth, deciding not to think about that statement too much. Maybe the Nara just said what was on his mind without thinking, yeah... that was it. Wait. Did that mean he thought she was _beautiful_? She shook her head. Of course she was. Lots of guys told her she was beautiful... no, wait, actually no. That's not true. Lots of guys told her she was hot, sexy and sometimes even pretty. Never _beautiful_. She reached him with arched brows, asking him what he wanted from her.

He smiled and moved to the side in order to show her what was behind him.

She couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"An electric... double bass."

She looked at the instrument and touched the neck of the thing that looked little more than just the skeleton of an actual string bass. She looked at Shikamaru who was smiling as if he knew he'd won and she was definitely going to get it.

"Right..."

"So, you _are_ getting it?" he asked. Temari noted a bit of concern on his voice that intrigued her.

"Maybe. Why you so hyped up about me getting one?"

Shikamaru looked to his right.

"See that poster over there?" he pointed at a poster. Temari looked at it and stared at Shikamaru.

"No. Way."

"Oh come on! You were brilliant earlier... we'll do it with Kiba and Hinata and Shino again. A string _quintet_. Isn't that _brilliant_? We need a bassist like you and-"

Temari shut him up by raising her hand, asking him to stop. It irritated her the way he said _we_ all the time. She looked back at the poster announcing a strings ensemble exhibition and competition on the 19th. No way in hell. Her father was probably going to be there – apparently it his school had something to do with it. Was the Nara really _that_ selfish to forget her predicament with her father?

"Nara, get this: No."

Shikamaru looked like he wanted to surrender... but he didn't. He sat down at a nearby bench, and placing his elbows on his knees he looked down on the ground and said softly, "I just thought... like, when I heard you play earlier today, you were _amazing_. Especially since that was more or less your first time... I thought... if I got you to practice a bit, I thought... we could sound good together." He looked up at her, eyes tired but sparkling with something within. "Temari, I want to play with you."

_He said I_. Temari stared at him. _He said I_. There he was again, calling her by her first name. _He said I_. Since when did she give him the permission? _He said I_.

"Please. I know we'd sound good together."

She sighed. "I can't play, you know."

He smiled. "I'll teach you. You'll pick it up easy."

"I'm no genius."

He chuckled. "You'd be surprised."

She scratched her head and looked away. Was she going to let him drag her into this? Was she going to _allow_ this?

"Please, Temari. Please."

_Stop bloody saying _Please_ with that tone, dammit!_

"Fine."

- - -

Ino sipped on her cafe latte, waiting for Shikamaru to get out of the music store from the coffee shop across the street. After Shikamaru dumped her earlier today, she'd decided to go for a coffee to calm her nerves. Genius violinist or not, the guy was a fucking _idiot_, as far as she was concerned. She couldn't help but ask herself, not for the first time, why in the _hell_ she was going out with the guy.

But that wasn't why she was waiting for him. Oh no.

Earlier, she'd witnessed something rather... interesting. Shikamaru had claimed exhaustion as his excuse to leave her behind and she assumed he was on his way home. However, as she was sitting there, drinking her calming coffee, she saw Shikamaru dragging another _woman_ with him into the store which she was currently watching.

Usually, she wouldn't think twice about it. Shikamaru wasn't the kind who'd cheat – hell, who in their right minds would cheat on _her_ anyway? Not only was she hot, everyone knew she ate the male-parts of those who dared hurt her pride for breakfast. But, this was Shikamaru. To have come from the direction he came from, he would have had to track back. _Meaning_, even if one said he'd bumped into her randomly on the street and she wasn't anyone special, it would still be a big deal for someone of Shikamaru's... character... to _double back_ for _anyone_.

Ino could still remember the time he'd refused to return with her to get the wallet she'd left behind at the library. She was forced to get it by herself, _alone_, while he waited for her at the front. In other words, and to be straight to the point, Shikamaru was too much of a lazy ass to walk the same way twice. Especially if he had a fixed destination.

So, Ino concluded, he either _planned_ on meeting this girl and going to the store, _or_, she was special enough to him so he'd bother to "waste his time" on her.

However, what bothered Ino the most, really, was the fact that they'd been in that store for the past _bloody hour_. She fumed, anger... and something that deeply resembled jealousy... practically steaming out of her ears.

Suddenly, she heard the distant tinkling of a bell. She looked across the street and saw Shikamaru leaving the store with a grin on his face and the blonde girl he'd entered earlier with – she even had some expensive-looking sunglasses on, the cheap skank! – who was then shouldering an instrument case that looked much too big for her. Ino swallowed the last of her coffee, scrunched the expensive Styrofoam cup (probably to relieve some of her nerves) and threw it away, simultaneously picking up her belongings.

She was his girlfriend. She had every right in the world to follow him and invade his privacy if she thought something suspicious was going on. She crossed the street and easily caught up with Shikamaru and the blonde girl with the much _too short skirt_ since they walked side by side in a leisurely manner. They weren't saying anything to each other. It bothered Ino how they seemed so comfortable together in the silence. She continued following the suspicious couple, cleverly maintaining a fair distance from them. Not too far though, she needed to hear what they were talking about.

They walked for another 15 minutes. Ino couldn't help noting that they were going quite a distance _away_ from Shikamaru's house. This frustrated her even more. Then she heard the blonde girl say, with a voice that sounded much too mature and much too sexy – even Ino had to admit – for her comfort, "It's over there."

Ino watched Shikamaru nod, and looked in the direction the blonde girl pointed.

Ino heard something crack.

She looked down and saw that she'd broken her new pair of sunglasses by gripping on them too hard.

With trembling hands, she reached for her cell phone. She dialled a familiar and well-rehearsed number.

This wasn't right. This wasn't happening... _no way_. Not to her.

"Sakura," she cried into the phone. "Shikamaru... he... he's going into a _hotel_ with... with someone else!"

- - -

**Author's Note:** Well, assuming that since you're all the way down here, you've read the chapter... I'll tell you that in the original version, Temari had an actual song she sang - lyrics and chords, the whole deal. Originally, I had intended on making up the song myself, however... when I was thinking about it, "that song" just kept returning to me. It just fit so perfectly, you see. And, I figured the effect would be more dramatic if the readers had an actual tune they could listen to while they read the story... and actually relate to it. Besides no matter how hard I tried, it just sounded like I was rewording the lyrics of "that song"... in the end,I gave up and used it. Ah well.


	4. Confrontations

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own no characters.

- - -

CHAPTER FOUR

Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea to follow her into her hotel room. However, he ignored the voice that screamed in his head claiming that it was, in fact, a bad idea and followed her anyway. In the end, he concluded that this woman did funny things to his brain – the only thing he couldn't figure out was whether he actually _liked_ it or not.

Of course, the idea of actually liking it was absurd... but he couldn't help _thinking_ he did. That alone was frightening in itself.

He shook his head. He was going senile (and he wasn't twenty yet, even), he was certain of it. What other explanation could there be, really?

Temari opened the door to one of the more expensive rooms in the hotel. Until just then, Shikamaru almost forgot the fact that rock stars actually _did_ make a lot of money. He looked down at his worn jeans and T-shirt... and sighed. He suddenly felt relatively pathetic. And he felt even more so when he followed her into the room and was greeted by a suite that was probably bigger than his whole apartment _and_ his neighbour's put together. He looked around and to his right, found Gaara sitting in a corner, writing something on pieces of paper.

Forget intimidating, it looked absolutely _frightening_.

Gaara looked up and stared at Temari who nodded. Shikamaru supposed this was his way of greeting. He waved at Gaara who then directed his attention to him for a while, nodded and returned to his papers. Somehow, Shikamaru thought he was writing a lot more feverishly than before. He had to suppress a shudder.

"What's that thing you're holding, Temari?"

Kankuro was at his drum set. It looked as if he'd stopped when he heard Temari come in. Originally, Shikamaru thought the make up was for the stage only. Apparently he was wrong. Temari looked at Kankuro, told him it was "nothing" and continued walking towards wherever it was she was going. Shikamaru followed her since he didn't really know what else to do.

Kankuro whistled. "Have fun, you guys."

Shikamaru stopped mid-step and stared at Kankuro. Temari laughed.

"Thanks, Kankuro."

It was then Temari's turn to be stared at. She winked at him and proceeded. Shikamaru was at a loss as to whether to follow her or not – Kankuro's uncalled for whistle and comment did not help.

"Not a good idea to keep her waiting, dude."

Shikamaru looked at Kankuro who was grinning at him. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Oi! Nara!" Temari's voice pierced his troubled thoughts. "You coming or not!"

Yeah, that's right. Why _was_ he... feeling uncomfortable? He had no reason to, after all. This was _Sabakuno Temari_ they were talking about. The chances of a girl like her being interested in a guy like him were like – Wait. Wait just one minute. Why in the fucking hell was he even thinking of that!

It was the polish. Yeah. That must've been it.

He knew he'd stayed too long in that music store for his own good.

Yes. No other explanation.

Temari opened a door and stepped in, keeping the door open so he could follow, which he did. Shikamaru couldn't help feeling just a little... common. In all honesty, as far as Shikamaru was concerned, Temari's "hotel room" resembled a house more than anything else, and her room was at least three times the size of his own. He pushed all those thoughts aside when he saw music stands, sheet music and the like in her room (along with around three electric guitars, two of which were basses). Well, she _did_ take her music seriously, Shikamaru knew this by now. He concentrated on the present, trying his best to ignore the fact that he was in Sabakuno Temari's bedroom. Not that it was a big deal or anything like that.

But _man_, his friends were going to have a riot when they hear about this. Shikamaru chuckled. Not that they'd believe him, of course. He supposed there would be no point telling them... even to _his_ ears it sounded bizarre. He could've sworn he'd warned himself to stay away from a woman like her... and yet... here he was.

That was a little sad.

Wait, no. Focus. Focus.

Shikamaru took out his violin as Temari started setting up her new electric double bass. Yes, this was the reason he was here. He was supposed to show her the piece so she could see whether she wanted to do it or not. In any case, he knew she'd pretty much already accepted anyway. Why else would she have bothered to invite him over?

Unless...

Shikamaru shook his head. He was _definitely_ going senile.

But really, he'd never noticed before how non-existent her skirt was... until that moment when he looked up to see her lying – on her stomach – on her bed, looking for something that had apparently fallen off the other side.

Damn, was the air-conditioning not _working_? He suddenly felt really, really warm.

"Uhm," he coughed. "Temari?"

"Go ahead. Play it. I'm listening," she continued looking for whatever it was she was looking for.

Shikamaru shrugged and was soon concentrating on his violin. To be honest, he was rather fond of playing the violin. True, he was lazy and preferred to stay in bed than to do anything else. But, the violin was different. Something about it was calming... and it felt nice playing it. He liked the way the sounds _felt_. It was a hard feeling to express... all he knew was that he liked it.

It was like playing _shougi_, really. He enjoyed doing that too, regardless of the fact that it took effort and sometimes a bit of sweat. He didn't mind the effort _then_ because he enjoyed it. Hey, even _he_ was allowed to have a few passions of his own, wasn't he?

When he finished playing, he jumped to see Temari sitting on her bed, staring intently at him. When he looked back at her, she gasped as if she had been lost in a day dream. He raised an eyebrow. Was she even listening?

They spent the next hour or so with Temari at the double bass and Shikamaru at the violin. Again, Shikamaru was impressed. She'd heard the piece only once or twice and yet she picked it up so quickly. Earlier, she'd said it was amazing he memorized such a long piece. He almost laughed. She _really _didn't notice the fact that _she_ was pretty amazing herself.

"Okay, okay," she moaned. "I'm tired."

She sat down on the floor, leaning on the side of her bed. Shikamaru figured this was her way of asking for a break. He reluctantly put his violin on her bed. He'd wanted to play a bit more – they _really_ sounded good together. He loved it.

"So," he ventured. "What do you think?"

Her eyes were closed and she'd leaned her head back. Shikamaru couldn't help watching her. She was, really, rather pretty.

"I've got nothing else better to do, I guess."

Shikamaru grinned. _Yes!_ He couldn't help laughing out loud, causing Temari to open her eyes and stare at him. He was laughing, so he didn't notice... but when he looked at her, he abruptly stopped laughing. He couldn't help but think, _she _is _very_ _pretty_.

Temari noticed his sudden stop, she raised an eyebrow... but he continued looking at her. He couldn't help it. He didn't know how long they stared at each other – it must've been really weird. But, he didn't really care.

He felt as if he could stare at her like this forever.

When he realized what he thought, he blushed. _Shit_. He turned away to hide said blush, but Temari, of course, noticed.

"What!" she demanded. "What is it!"

He turned away anyway, not saying a word. He wasn't exactly sure himself.

She grabbed his shoulder. "Oi!"

He scratched his head. "Well then. I should get going, huh? It's getting pretty late." He could see the sun getting ready to set through her windows. Wow... he'd been out the whole day. That had to be a new record or something.

He started getting up, causing Temari to lose her grip on him.

"I'll tell the others about you helping us. It'll be awesome."

"Oh _no_ you don't."

Suddenly, Shikamaru felt something hard hit his shin and was forced to crash into the floor. Did she just _kick_ him! Next thing he knew, Temari was on top of him, eyebrow aloft and a determined smirk on her face.

"Not until you tell me what's so funny."

He stared. Funny? Did she think he was _laughing_ at her? Now _that_ was funny. He snorted... which was a bad idea because it only irritated Temari more. He shook his head. Nothing, nothing _at all_ was funny.

"How about I tell you," he said, trying his best not to laugh. "When you get off me?"

She stared at him, not convinced.

"If your brothers walk in on us now, I'm not sure I'll be able to defend myself."

Her eyes opened wide. Apparently realizing her compromising position on top of him, she moved away and sat back down on her original spot. _Aw_, she looked embarrassed. Shikamaru would've loved to see her blush. Maybe he should – he paused.

Somehow, that sounded... just a _little_... sadistic.

He really was turning into an old man.

He looked at the door. He was feeling really strange. Was he... getting _attracted_ to her? Damn. He was, wasn't he?

He felt Temari's breath brush against his ear. He shuddered. _What the hell?_

"Come on," she whispered. "Just tell me."

"It's n-nothing," he tried to suppress a gasp. Was she _playing_ with him? God, please no. He remembered their "kiss" at the music store. He'd almost lost control back then... it was _so_ not a good idea to be playing with him like this, right now, right here. No.

She licked him. _Oh god_. He could feel her grinning against his skin. _Stop. Stop. Stop. Please._

He turned to push her away, but he couldn't. She was staring into his eyes now. He couldn't read them. But shit, they were gorgeous. He had to pause – he couldn't look away.

"Your eyes," he whispered, almost to himself. "They're beautiful."

Said eyes opened wide. Then, she closed the small distance between them and kissed him lightly on the lips. It felt almost careful, almost scared – as if she didn't know what she was doing. She started pulling back, but he held her still. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own when they decided to hold her neck and waist. _Fuck it_. He pulled her in and kissed her.

_Fuck _this.

He knew he wasn't a good kisser. But... at that moment... he didn't really care. He'd stopped thinking the moment their lips made contact. And _that_ was more than two hours ago. So, fuck everything. He'll think of the consequences later.

He'd almost completely lost himself in their kiss – which was getting more passionate by the second – when the fact that his pants were getting much too tight for comfort came crashing down on him. That brought him straight back to reality, where he was, what he was doing... and with _whom_.

_Oh crap_. _Think, Nara. Think! You shouldn't be doing this, idiot!_ Think of the consequences later? Was he retarded!

He pulled away – albeit reluctantly – from the kiss and looked away.

"Uh," he said. "Nothing was funny. Okay? I wasn't laughing."

He didn't dare look at her.

"It's just that... I suddenly realized you were sitting so close... and, really. You're beautiful. I guess I just got embarrassed."

Suddenly, Temari pulled him and saddled him.

"Say that again."

"What?"

"That... 'Beautiful' shit. Say it again."

He stared at her. "You're... beautiful...?"

She smiled at him – a soft, gentle... appreciative smile. _Shit._ She leaned in to restart their kiss, and grinned when she felt him reacting. Shikamaru cursed his body.

"My, you sure are getting excited," she purred into his ear, causing him to shudder.

"Te-Temari," he stuttered. "What the _fuck_ are you doing?" This was so not happening.

She chuckled. "Oh come now," she whispered. "Surely a genius like you can figure it out."

Shikamaru held her shoulders, pushing her back so he could look her in the eyes. "It's _not_ funny."

She looked at him, her eyes softening. This startled Shikamaru a little. She smiled, "I know."

The next thing he knew, he was making out with Temari again. She grabbed his wrists and held it against the side of the bed. _Damn_. She was strong. And she was a pretty damn good kisser. He'd never kissed anyone like this before. It was feverish, passionate... and it felt like she really wanted it. Hell, though his mind was screaming the opposite, he knew his body wanted it pretty badly too. He wanted to stop her. This was wrong... it felt good, yes... but it was _wrong_.

Temari started moving her hips, causing him to groan into her mouth. She was not helping his problem any. If anything, she was making it much worse. _Dammit, I'm going to need a _very _cold shower after this_.

"Temari," he tried to say though it was difficult considering the fact that she was sucking on his tongue. She stopped, and with a smack set his mouth free. Licking her red and slightly swollen lips, she looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Okay. Here's the deal," she said, shifting so she was sitting more comfortably on his lap, and effectively causing him to moan again. "I won't be giving you any for free."

Shikamaru stared at her. "You... You're the one practically molesting me here!"

She shushed him with her index finger. "It's not like you're _not_ enjoying it, Nara." Her hands moved down, across his abdomen and finally rested at a certain spot – and not without a squeeze, mind you – making Shikamaru's stomach do summersaults. He blushed. _Shit_.

She was still holding his wrists against the bed so he couldn't do anything to push her away. Then again, he knew that even if she _wasn't_ holding him down, he probably wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway.

"I'll let you have your way with me," she said, kissing her way up his neck. When she finally reached his ear, she licked it and whispered, "if you sing me a song."

Shikamaru was floored. "Wh-what!"

She chuckled into his ear, sending reverberations down his spine. "That's right. You heard me sing today – and it was _free_. I'm a professional musician, you know... that honour doesn't come very often to commoners like you. Besides, I've heard you play the violin plenty of times, but I've never heard you _sing_. I'm sure a musical genius like you has a beautiful voice."

"You're mocking me."

She smiled into his ear, "Oh, you can tell?"

"I'm not singing you a song. You can get off me now."

She audibly pouted. "Oh come on," she whined, playfully. "You know you want this." Her tongue traced the shell of his ear, sending sparks of electricity to the ends of his toes. Shikamaru couldn't help but moan. He didn't want to let her win, but it was hard. Well, truthfully, _that_ wasn't the only thing that was hard. Ahem.

She didn't let him go while she continued alternately kissing and licking his ear, sometimes nibbling at the lobe. Eventually, her tongue pushed inside his ear and started sliding in, out and around. _God dammit_. He was getting mental images of doing some sliding in, out and around himself. Of course, those mental images had Temari _under_ him, not on top of him... but let's not go there.

"Temari," he said, voice shaking just a little. His resolve was slowly dissolving. "Please... we shouldn't be-"

"Just one song, Nara," her tongue continued fucking his ear. "One verse, even. And I'll let you do whatever you want."

"That's the thing!" he almost shouted. "I don't _want_ to... do... anything to you!" _Liar._ _You are such a bad liar, Shikamaru_.

She stopped. She leaned back and looked him in the eye. "Is it really that hard? Just a song? A single verse? Even a _Happy Birthday_ would do, honestly. This is a chance of a lifetime for you, dude."

He sighed in frustration. "I don't sing."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"No! Come on, Temari, just-"

"You're really not singing?"

"I don't sing for _anyone_."

"Not even me?"

"Look, not even my _girlfriend's_ heard me sing, so gi-"

_Shit_.

The way she looked at him with wide eyes made him stop mid-sentence. What did he just say? Why did that come out? He realized he wasn't thinking at all about Ino while he was making out with Temari. He suddenly felt guilt building up in his gut – but if he thought about it, it was guilt concerning the fact that he hadn't told Temari he had a girlfriend, and little to do with the fact that he was, at that very moment, cheating on Ino. _Wait, it's not like she even _asked_, right? Why should I care... why should _she _care?_

Again, he wasn't thinking at all about Ino.

"Girl... friend," she said softly, eyes lowering.

He gulped, not saying anything.

"I see," she said, getting up, fixing her state of disarray. If Shikamaru hadn't known any better, it almost looked as if she was... embarrassed. _No way_. That wasn't really possible... considering the fact that this was Temari we were talking about... was it?

Temari stood up and walked away from him. She started fixing her hair in front of her mirror. Shikamaru stared at her for a little while, still punching himself on the inside for mentioning Ino at all. He didn't know why exactly he regretted saying anything – he just did. But really, it wasn't like she really _was_ going to do anything. _Argh._ He felt like pulling out his hair.

"Well, then," he said, trying to break the awkward silence. "I guess... I'll be going now... I'll see you tomorrow... to practice, yeah?"

She nodded, wordlessly. He looked at her helplessly, suddenly feeling really miserable.

Eventually, when he'd had enough of the awkwardness and silence around him, he gathered his things. Violin case in hand, he opened her door, and just when he about to shut it, he heard her whisper to the mirror.

"I'm sorry."

- - -

The door closed behind him, and Temari leaned her forehead against the cold surface of the mirror. She suddenly became aware of tears pricking at her eyelids and she felt an overwhelming urge to break something.

Violently.

Anything.

Preferably Shikamaru's head.

Yeah, that would probably be really nice. _That idiot_.

Really, she was _asking_ for it, though, wasn't she? But, the bastard hadn't said anything and the way he was kissing her sure didn't tell her he was taken. She didn't even know why it bothered her. She was _Sabaku no_ Temari for god's sake. She could have any guy she wanted, anytime, anywhere – whether or whether not they had girlfriends was never really a concern for her... before.

But... it bothered her that he _dared_ mention her as if she was more important than Temari... especially after that little make out session. The nerve of that idiot. Who did he think he-

She laughed at herself.

Of _course_ she was more important – she was the _girlfriend_. And how long had Temari known him? Not even three days. She was being ridiculous. She was being so-

Wait.

Did that mean that she _wanted_ him?

"Argh," she lightly hit her forehead against her mirror. This was too confusing for her. Why on earth would _she_ want an annoying and boring guy like _him_. Why!

Why...

He'd said she was beautiful. Again. Not that it was a big deal or anything... just... you know. She wasn't entirely used to it. Yet.

And, he looked so different when he played the violin, too. She couldn't help staring... watching him. It felt – not really looked, more like _felt _– as if he was _one_ with the instrument. She knew he was playing it with all his heart, and the reason he didn't look like he was putting so much effort into it was because he was comfortable with it. He had a nice aura around him when he was like that.

She stared at herself in the mirror, disbelief in her eyes. Was she _really_ thinking what she thought she was thinking?

She remembered the way his mouth felt against hers... and the way he tasted. She buried her face in her hands. _Damn_. She couldn't help herself – she was grinning. God only knows why. But yes, she was grinning.

A soft knock on her door interrupted her thoughts and prompted her to stop her stupid and mindless grinning. It was probably Gaara. Kankuro wouldn't even _bother_ knocking.

"Come in."

She turned around as Gaara opened the door and stepped in. He looked at her and smirked. "You look happy."

She started. Did she?

Gaara continued, "Your boyfriend did not look so much so, however."

Temari looked away. Gaara was talking quite a lot today, wasn't he? It rather irritated her.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Gaara seemed to understand. How? Temari had no clue.

"Oh."

"If you're going to say something, Gaara, say it now."

Gaara coughed. "Baki-_san_ just called."

Temari looked up. Baki was their manager, a rather intimidating and muscular man with red tattoos on his face. As far as Temari was concerned, he was the only "father" figure the three of them ever knew. If you can call him that, that is. If he'd called them all the way from the States and during their _vacation_, then it meant there was some important or potentially career-changing gig he found for them. His calls were always exciting – though always short and to the point.

"And?"

"He says he has an interesting proposition for us."

Temari raised an eyebrow.

"He'll be here first thing tomorrow."

"Eh!" Temari stood up. Baki was coming _here_? Then... it really _was_ a big deal. Temari's fingers involuntarily tingled. She was getting excited. Gaara turned around without another word and closed the door quietly behind him. She smirked. _He_ was pretty excited too... considering the fact he'd said more than three sentences to her in one go.

Things were starting to get interesting. Temari sat back down. Yes, they were.

- - -

Shikamaru sighed as he made his way home. It'd been a long, long day. Truth be told, it'd been the longest god damn Sunday of his life. Given, he'd had fun for the first half of it... well okay... maybe _most _of it... but it felt like 48 hours had past and it _still_ wasn't over. He closed his eyes and tried to erase the eyes Ino had used to stare at him when he encountered her outside the hotel.

Damn his photographic memory.

Why was she even _there_? How did she know? He didn't think anyone saw him... if anything, it looked as if she was spying on him or something. As if she didn't trust him... that he was cheating on her.

Well, okay. Technically, it wasn't really _cheating_. Nothing _happened_. Really.

She looked like she was torn between crying and screaming in anger. For the first time in his life, Shikamaru was scared of her. She was actually rather frightening when she was upset. Especially when it was directed at him personally. Why _was_ she upset anyway? It wasn't like there was anyone around to _show_. Uchiha wasn't around to "accidentally" find out about how her cruel boyfriend had cheated on her. He sighed yet again and looked down at the violin key chain he held in his free hand. He didn't understand women.

"Who is she?" she'd said softly. It was the first thing she did when he went through the hotel doors. No _hello!_'s or _Shikamaru!_'s. He was preoccupied with other things so he was startled when he saw her sitting down on the fountain in front of the hotel. The sunset behind her was a blazing orange and it looked like she was on fire.

Only one thought ran through his head:

_Holy shit. The devil has come._

"Who is she!" she repeated a little more forcefully, but still not looking at him. It looked like she was looking at his shoe.

"Who?" Shikamaru knew _now_ that it was a stupid question. But in all honesty, he was still reeling from the shock of seeing her there that he _really_ had no idea what she was talking about at the time.

She looked up, tears welling in her eyes. Shikamaru was shocked again.

"Shikamaru. You. Are. An. Idiot."

She enunciated each word, loathing and venom dripping in her voice. The sheer hatred was palpable.

"I hate you."

With that, she threw this keychain at him and ran off. The keychain had bounced off his face and landed on the ground. He stared after her for a few minutes, still at a complete loss. It seemed his brain had stopped functioning. Eventually he bent down to pick up the thing she'd thrown at him. It was a miniature violin key chain – one of those expensive, very detailed types. On the back, Shikamaru saw an inscription that made his stomach hurt.

_Happy Second Anniversary!_

Shikamaru sighed once again. _Second anniversary, huh?_ Had he been with Ino that long? It didn't really seem like it. Hell, he didn't even know it was the 4th today. He _knew_ their "anniversary" was on the 4th – Ino made sure of _that_ last year. He just wasn't aware of the fact that it was _today_.

He wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling... he just knew he wasn't entirely... well, happy. Maybe he felt... guilty? But what did he have to feel guilty about? Hurting Ino's pride? Is that it?

He paused in front of a store and looked inside.

He almost laughed out loud. See? He _was_ a horrible boyfriend. His girlfriend just caught him supposedly cheating on her – hell, even he knew how bad going inside a hotel with a woman looked. Regardless of the fact that nothing happened and that he'd tried everything in his power to make sure that, indeed, _nothing_ happened. Forget it that he wasn't thinking of his present girlfriend. And hell, how'd she even _know_! – and here he was... looking inside this store... and thinking of...

He sighed.

How did Temari's song go again?

He fished his cell phone out of his pocket, dialled, and waited for someone to pick up on the other end.

"Hey Kiba, it's Shikamaru," he said into the little gadget. "Yeah. Hey, you know how you said you'd 'compensate' me for today?"


	5. Conflicts

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language

**Disclaimer:** I don't own characters.

- - -

CHAPTER FIVE

Temari sighed as she leaned against a tree, watching the group of string musicians a few feet away setting up. She was supposed to meet Shikamaru and company today to practice "their" piece... like they'd been doing for the past week and a half, preparing for the exhibition-slash-competition this Friday – which was, coincidentally, only three days away. Though he didn't really look it, Temari could tell – or rather, feel – that Shikamaru was rather excited.

That just made her predicament worse, really.

She was not looking forward to the inevitable confrontation at all.

The truth was, she'd just had lunch with her brothers and their manager Baki­-_san_. Last week when he'd shown up out of the blue, he'd told them that a special underground rock "contest" – a sort of Battle of the Bands type of thing – was going to take place at the end of the month over the course of two weeks. The _Chuunin_, it was called, was going to be an important step for _Sabaku_. Bands from all over the world were coming to Japan and all of them, generally speaking, were of the highest calibre. If _Sabaku_ managed to pull off an excellent show _then_, they were going to be looking at international recognition and a possible deal with one of the world's most important and major music labels. Though _Sabaku_ was somewhat popular now, it was only in Japan – where the three of them had grown up – and also a few cities back home in the States. This was a chance that did not come too often and the three of them had jumped at the opportunity.

At the time, Temari was relieved it wasn't going to clash with Shikamaru's thing. Though she knew she was probably going to be as busy as hell with all the practicing and rehearsing going on with two different parties, she had no doubt that she could handle it. You see, Baki-_san_ had said their show was going to be on the 21st.

"Had" being the operative word.

Funny how these sorts of things always seemed to happen, huh?

This morning – think five-ish. Yeah, ridiculous, ain't it? – Baki-_san_ had called and asked to meet them for lunch. He had "excellent" news, apparently. Through his "connections", Baki­_-san_ had "discovered" that a major label was going to be present for the show on the 19th – how he _found_ this confidential information was not something the siblings questioned; it wasn't the first time and though they were thankful... they knew they'd rather not know about Baki's "information network" – and so he (somehow) managed to switch slots with another group; one that apparently did _not_ know about the aforementioned major music label.

And now, Temari was forced with the task of informing Shikamaru that, sorry, she wasn't going to be able to make it on the 19th for the 53rd Annual _Konoha_ Strings Ensemble Exhibition and Competition. Not that Baki-_san_ or Kankuro or Gaara knew...

Sadly, even if she'd wanted to, Temari couldn't have said anything against Baki­-_san_. For even though he was basically working _for_ the group, he was pretty much in control of everything – more than anything, it felt as if _he_ was the employer and they were mere underlings. Besides, she knew Kankuro would not hear anything of Temari ditching for some string quintet... and she was rather scared of Gaara.

And, really... she was pretty excited about the Battle of the Bands, too. If she were completely honest with herself, she had to say that she was... well, a _rocker_. She enjoyed playing the strings, yes. Especially in a group – it felt different. It was relaxing; something like a stress-reliever of sorts. However, it had always only been a way to pass the time and keep herself from being bored... that and it gave her an excuse to see Shikamaru. She hated to admit it... but really, one of the few reasons why she did all this was... well... him.

Anyway, she was a rocker by blood (well, not literally)... even if she forced herself to want to sacrifice her joy for Shikamaru, she wouldn't have been able to. Besides, why would she do something as stupid as _that_? Point of the matter is, this was a chance of a lifetime for _Sabaku_... as much guilt as she might feel ditching Shikamaru, she knew she would regret giving _this_ chance up even more.

And so, with such a conclusion in front of her, she leaned back again, shut her eyes and sighed. This was not going to be a good day.

What she hated the most was the fact that she was going to have to disappoint Shikamaru.

... That was it, really.

Now, she didn't really know _why_. She just didn't want to. Disappoint him, that is.

She looked over at Shikamaru again. There was something about him that was... really... different. Temari didn't know how else to explain it or describe him. For years, Temari had always been _Sabaku no_ Temari, the rocker girl. All the guys she'd ever dated only looked at her because she was – apparently – a sex symbol. She was hot, she was good at the bass, and she was strong. Probably a lesbian. That was what everyone said and that was probably the only thing everyone ever knew about her. Temari never talked much to strangers, nor did she talk much with her siblings – in all honesty, she lived in an environment that was not entirely conducive to productive or meaningful conversations. And yet, here was a complete stranger... someone whom she'd decided to hate since day _one_... and he somehow managed to... read her mind. She didn't think he was psychic or anything, possibly just over-intuitive; however... though she knew he was probably not doing it on purpose...

She couldn't help but... _notice_ it.

See, no one ever knew what she thought. No one knew what she cared about or her opinion on things...

And no one has ever really showed that they actually cared either.

... Well... until...

Eventually, Shikamaru's voice interrupted her thoughts, forcing her to stop her contemplation of the situation and calling her over – a bit too excitedly in Temari's opinion, though to the untrained ear, Shikamaru probably sounded bored. She decided to completely stop pursuing the train of thought she was just riding – it was getting much too dangerous and strange, and not to mention alien. And about not being able to make it on the 19th, she'd talk to him after today's practice – maybe over a cup of coffee or something.

Or maybe tea. Yes, maybe tea would be better. She'd been told once that tea helped with the nerves.

Not that she was asking him out or anything retarded like that. Hell no.

She pushed herself off her perch and grabbing her double bass, she made her way to Shikamaru.

She hoped things didn't get _too_ difficult.

- - -

It was strange.

After practice, Temari had looked at him oddly and asked him if he felt like having a cup of coffee, or something. That was actually exactly what she said, "Do you feel like having a cup of coffee... or something?" Shikamaru stared at her for a while and after concluding that nothing fatal could come out of having an innocent cup of coffee, he said yes, in fact he did feel like having a cup of coffee... or something. And so, here they were now, sitting opposite each other... having a cup of coffee. And not something. Well, at least he was. She, for reasons Shikamaru didn't want to bother deciphering, was having tea.

Temari looked like there was something she wanted to talk about, this much Shikamaru could tell. Anything more than that, like what it _was_ she wanted to talk about, for example, he had no clue. Not knowing something like this made Shikamaru feel very uncomfortable and he, quite honestly, did not know how to act around her at the moment.

That and the fact that their little tryst in her hotel room last week was still – quite embarrassingly, really – fresh (and made doubly so because of his blasted memory) on his mind.

In more ways than one.

You see, he'd never noticed her before. He knew she was hot and sexy. Definitely pretty. Ino and Sakura had bombarded him and the other guys this information a long time ago. He'd noticed that first night he saw her play her bass at their gig that she was indeed rather beautiful – in a strong, mature type of way. But, Shikamaru was never attracted to women like that. Nor was he attracted to women of intellect either. As far as Shikamaru was concerned, women were conniving, cunning and most definitely annoying – this opinion was probably influenced greatly by his present girlfriend, poor guy – he could live without the inconvenience of having to handle them, really. Intellectual women were a pain because they thought they were so smart that they just _had_ to freaking share their opinions. He was then forced to listen and give them comments. Pretty women were a pain because they spent half their lives flirting.

Conclusion? Women – in general – were annoying.

And so, he was surprised to find that he didn't really _mind_ Temari – and she was both beautiful _and_ intellectual, as far as he was concerned. He was even more surprised to realize that he was slowly getting attracted to her. However, the most surprising was the fact that he found her... well... exciting. And really, not a lot of things in this world interested the Nara, and even fewer things excited the boy.

As far as women were concerned, Shikamaru thought he pretty much had them figured out. He knew why they did that and he knew why they did this. You see, women were amazing creatures – they never wasted a single action. Everything they did had a reason and a purpose behind. Now, whether this purpose or reason is noble or not depends entirely on the type of woman. Anyway, Shikamaru thought he understood women. But then, Temari came along and he couldn't read her. Usually, women were as easy to read as books. To him, anyway. Their emotions showed on their faces and their meanings blatantly displayed themselves in their body language. But... Temari? He couldn't read _her_. Not really, anyway. There was something seriously mysterious about her.

And she was more than just intellectual – she was brilliant. She was a genius... and she wasn't stuck up about it. Whether or whether not it was because she wasn't aware of it herself was really irrelevant, as far as Shikamaru was concerned. He knew she probably did know she was good, and he appreciated that humility in her. If she didn't know, well then... he liked that innocence.

In any case, he really wanted to know what it was Temari wanted to say.

To be completely honest, it was bothering him to his wits end.

"So..." he ventured, no longer able to endure the rather awkward silence that had settled fifteen minutes ago.

"So..." she replied.

Shikamaru sighed. It was not like her to be so... reserved. Usually, she said what was on her mind, just like that. More than anything, it felt as if she was thinking of the best possible way to explain to him a very sad situation. Shikamaru was doubtful whether Temari cared much about his _feelings_, so he wished she'd just get it over with. He had no clue why she was dilly-dallying.

Eventually Temari sighed and put down her cup. Leaning back, she opened an eye and considered him. He raised an eyebrow.

"This Friday... I won't be able to make it."

Shikamaru almost dropped his cup.

"Wha-!"

"Shikamaru!" an overly sunny voice interrupted them.

"You're too loud, _dobe_."

Shikamaru turned around to see Uchiha and Uzumaki walking towards them. He groaned. Now was so not the time.

"Man," Naruto continued, reaching Shikamaru and draping his arms on his shoulders from behind. "When Ino told us that you were cheating on her with another blonde, we thought she'd gone crazy."

"Na... ruto..." Shikamaru's eyebrow was twitching.

"You're talking too much, _usuratonkachi_."

Naruto acted like he didn't hear Sasuke. "I mean, seriously. The Shikamaru we know and love doesn't do that kind of thing." Naruto looked up at Temari, grinning. "Apparently, you have a fetish for blondes, eh?"

"Ino... was it?"

Naruto's eyes opened wide when Temari spoke. Ah, he finally recognized her.

"Y-you... you're...!"

Temari raised an eyebrow and smirked at Shikamaru.

"She's... blonde?"

Naruto pointed at her, wide-eyed, and said in a relatively loud voice, "You're _Sabaku no _Tema-!"

Sasuke, having the presence of mind not to be a _complete_ idiot, grabbed Naruto and covered his mouth.

"I said: you're talking too much, _aho_."

"Mmmpf!"

Temari laughed. "I see you _do_ have friends who know me."

Shikamaru rubbed his temple. "Naruto, would you sit down and keep quiet? You're attracting too much attention."

Naruto managed to get Sasuke off him, but not without a glare.

"Ah... uh... okay," Naruto scratched his head. "But you better tell us what in the hell is going on, man."

Sasuke nodded. "Agreed."

Fifteen minutes later, after having explained to them the situation, Shikamaru found Naruto laughing his head off and Sasuke being... well... silent, really. He appreciated Sasuke's maturity, at least... not so much Naruto's though.

"What!" Naruto was laughing. Hard. "And Ino was freaking out, man!"

Shikamaru had to prevent the urge to sock Naruto one.

"Hahaha! Wait 'till the others hear about _this_ one! Shikamaru cheating on Ino with... _Temari_!"

Sasuke rolled an eye. Temari was looking very amused.

"So _that_ was what was going on! Who'd have thought that she was Sabakuno-_sensei_'s daughter!"

Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were both members of the orchestra, by the way. Sasuke played the violin, Naruto, the flute.

Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm glad you finally understand." He looked up. "Don't tell me Ino's been spreading that crap around?"

Temari laughed. "Crap, eh?"

Shikamaru winced. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto blinked.

"Anyway," Shikamaru continued, trying to change the subject. He thanked the lords Naruto was an idiot. And also for the fact that though Sasuke was more perceptive, he was also at least more considerate. He eyed Temari. "I hope I heard you wrong about this Friday."

Temari looked away.

"Something... came up. I'm sorry."

Shikamaru stared at her. "What!"

_Something_! Please tell him she wasn't planning on leaving it at that.

"Temari!"

A voice that shouldn't have been familiar (but then was) interrupted yet again. Shikamaru groaned. What was it with people and interrupting today! This time, he didn't even bother turning around. He knew they were coming over.

"Whatchoo doin' in a place like this?" Kankuro stood in front of them, Gaara right behind. "We were wondering where you disappeared off to after lunch and... Shit! Is that a double bass!"

Kankuro was referring to the big case which Temari had accidentally left partially open. She hastily shut it, huffed and chose not to answer Kankuro's question. Kankuro looked at Shikamaru.

"Man," he said, grinning. "You're somethin' totally different if you got _Temari_ into classical music."

Temari kicked him from under the table, causing him to yelp. Gaara... smirked. In the meantime, Naruto was busy staring open-mouthed at the two new members of the party. As far as Shikamaru was concerned, the table was getting way too crowded. Kankuro grinned at Sasuke and Naruto. "Scooch over, wouldya?"

Naruto and Sasuke obliged, still staring – well, at least Naruto was. Gaara remained standing.

"Temari," he said, looking at his sister. "Perhaps it's time we head back?"

Kankuro moaned. "Must we? I just got to sit down!"

Gaara chose to ignore him. "We really need to start practicing for this Friday. Baki-_san_ said so."

Shikamaru looked up. "What's happening this Friday?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Temari wince.

Gaara looked at him, then at Temari. "Has my sister not informed you?"

Shikamaru worked to control his patience. He was, really, generally speaking, a patient guy... in truth, more patient than most. However, at this moment in time... Gaara was driving him mad.

"I do believe," he said, matching Gaara's tone – something the other boy obviously did not fail to notice. "She was about to... until the both of you decided to interrupt us."

Kankuro looked at him. "Dude, watch it."

He sounded more concerned for Shikamaru's safety than for Gaara's pride.

Gaara eyed him.

"The three of us have an important event we must attend."

Shikamaru stared at Temari again. "How about the competition!"

Temari continued looking away, still not meeting his eyes. She looked guilty.

"Competition?" Kankuro inquired, curiosity piqued. Looking at Temari's double bass, he squeaked, "Like, an actual... classical music... competition... thing?"

Naruto was the one who answered. "Yeah. They're doing this string quintet for some strings competition at school this Friday."

Kankuro burst out laughing. "You're kidding!"

Temari gave him the evil eye.

Kankuro continued, waving her away. "Man, Temari, if you were _that_ bored, you could've told me!" Shikamaru who was originally looking helplessly at Temari, turned his attention towards Kankuro. "I mean, you'd think you would've been busy enough with all the practicing we've been doing the past two weeks!" Kankuro, apparently, found the whole thing amusing. Shikamaru didn't.

Shikamaru's eyes opened wide. "Two weeks?" He looked at Temari. "It didn't just... 'come up'... did it?"

Temari bit her lower lip and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. But, truthfully... it really just came up... sorta... and-"

Shikamaru stood up, slamming the table. "You're kidding me!"

She was lying. Kiba, Shino and Hinata and... _he_ was looking forward to Friday! They sounded good! If they were lucky, they could even win it... more than that... he wanted to play on stage with her... She said she'd do it... she couldn't just...

Gaara coughed and looking directly at Shikamaru. "I suggest you control your temper, Nara-_san_." He emphasized the salutation he used on his name. "My sister cannot help-"

Shikamaru looked at him, almost bored. "Can't help?" Shikamaru had to laugh. Where had he heard _that_ one before? No one in this world seemed to like taking responsibility for their shit. It was always... _I couldn't help it_... or _I had no choice_. It was sickening.

Naruto spoke up again, startling the group and breaking the tension and unease that followed Shikamaru's question.

"_Anno sa_," he said looking at Gaara, Shikamaru and Temari. Kankuro was still laughing. "_Anno sa. _It sounds to me as if Temari-_san_ had made a commitment already, right? So... shouldn't she, like, stick with-"

Gaara interrupted him. "Are you serious?"

Naruto looked at him, surprised.

"Temari... ditch the band... for a _strings_ competition?"

Shikamaru eyed Gaara. Admittedly, he did not know Gaara all that well... however, this was not a reaction he was expecting. He looked at Temari who looked a little concerned and at Kankuro who had suddenly stopped laughing and seemed to be gripping the edge of the table.

Gaara laughed. It was a cold, scary laugh.

"Simpletons," he said, smirking at Naruto. "You just have no idea how important the _Chuunin_ is for us."

Something caught Shikamaru's eye. Oh shit. Naruto was shaking.

"It doesn't really matter if Temari had – stupidly, might I add (here he looked at her) – already made, what did you call it? Oh," Gaara continued, glaring at Naruto. "A 'commitment'. This is not a chance that we can easily pass up."

Naruto looked at him, standing up. Sasuke held him back. "Hinata-_chan_ and Kiba and Shino... even Shikamaru... they worked so hard for Friday," he said, his voice slightly shaking. "Temari-_san_, can't just freaking ditch them last minute!"

"But she can. And she is _going_ to, stupid," Gaara eyed Naruto. "Your... strings competition. It happens every year, doesn't it? This doesn't. You can always just join it some other time." He grinned at Naruto. "Or is it you need my sister and her talents to win? Are you all _that_ pathetic?"

As Shikamaru feared, Naruto snapped.

"Why you little-!"

Naruto shook Sasuke off and lunged at Gaara who was taken by surprise, and caused the both of them to fall over backwards and turn over the table behind them. Temari cursed. Kankuro called for Gaara. Sasuke tried to reach Naruto but was beat to it by Kankuro who was desperately trying to pull the blonde off Gaara. Amazingly, the redhead had remained silent... so far. Shikamaru, however, felt a sort of dread he could not explain. Something was definitely coming... and that something told him that Naruto had done the wrong thing by jumping at Gaara.

"Get off me!"

Kankuro finally let go of Naruto, barely missing a punch that was aimed at his face. Naruto resumed his attentions towards the boy underneath him. Grabbing Gaara's collar, Naruto said through grit teeth, "When you make a promise... you better do whatever you can to friggin' fulfil it. That's what promises _are_, jackass."

Gaara looked him in the eye. "You're naive, aren't you?"

Naruto's grip hardened, his other formed a fist, ready to flatten Gaara's pale face... but a hand stopped him – Gaara's hand. Holding Naruto's wrist with one hand, Gaara used his legs to knock Naruto off him and turn him over. Twisting Naruto's arm, Gaara was now on top of a writhing Naruto who was facing the ground. Gaara used his right hand to push Naruto's face into the tiled floor, while his left continued twisting his arm.

"Oh shit," Temari said under her breath. Shikamaru looked at her. She looked way too concerned considering they were guys and this was a very guy thing to do – particularly in Naruto's case anyway.

"Promises," Gaara said, his voice totally different from what it was before. "Ha. You've got to be kidding me."

"Gaara," Kankuro said, reaching out, only to be shut out by his younger brother.

"Shut up. Stay out of this."

His voice had acid.

"Promises are for wishy-washy idiots."

Sasuke watched as Naruto cursed and writhed underneath the surprisingly strong and agile boy. Shikamaru knew Sasuke wanted more than anything to jump in and beat the living daylights out of Gaara, however the Uchiha knew better. Not only would Naruto hate him for interfering in his fight – he probably wouldn't be able to afford both his _and_ Naruto's bills if they were ever sued.

Sasuke's fists grew tight, his nails almost drawing blood. He was fighting the urge. Losing quickly, true... but fighting nonetheless. Shikamaru hoped to god Sasuke would be able to restrain himself until he thought of a way to get the two of them calm again.

Eventually, Naruto managed to lift his face off the ground, enough to be audible. "Just 'cause you're all a bunch of rock stars," he said, disgust dripping in his voice, "you think you're all that. Give me a break. _Sabaku_ ain't all that popular anyway."

Gaara's grip on his blond hair tightened.

"You have no power here, bastard. Go to hell."

Gaara's face changed dramatically – it was unrecognizable now. Turning Naruto over and gripping his collar, Gaara growled. "Say that to my face, you son of a bitch."

Naruto smirked at him. "Look who's talking, mother fucker." And with that, Naruto spat on his face.

Gaara's eyes widened and his pupils grew dangerously small. Shikamaru could see his knuckles going white as he gripped Naruto's shirt harder and harder, as if trying to control something. Shikamaru was suddenly scared for Naruto's life.

Without warning, Gaara roughly let go of Naruto, causing him to hit his head on hard tile. Naruto cursed under his breath. Gaara stood up and started making his way out of the cafe. Naruto called after him – stupid little idiot! – rubbing his arm which looked like it was bruised. "Running away, coward?"

Gaara stopped.

"No," he said, not turning around. "I was hoping you'd agree to taking this outside."


	6. Surprises

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language

**Disclaimer:** I don't own characters.

**Author's Note:** ... sorry for the late-ish update, everyone (one month, huh). Uhm... again, concerning Temari's song... in the original version, I have an actual _song_ I used. Admittedly, it's nothing ground-breaking and it doesn't affect the plot... It's only purpose, to be honest, is to give the reader a little insight into Temari's feelings for Shikamaru. I've tried my best to take the lyrics out for the most part... and not make it sound lame. I'm not entirely sure I succeeded though... ah well.

- - -

CHAPTER SIX

Leaning against a white bench in the park and feeling the warm sun against her neck, her face and the bare arms she'd draped along the bench behind her, Temari closed her eyes. The heat was pleasant and welcome; it had a calming affect and she appreciated it. A cool breeze was also present to prevent her from feeling too hot... all in all, it was a beautiful day. She almost sighed.

Pity it had to be a bad one, huh?

After that black-haired guy in blue practically tore off Gaara's arm and left him unconscious, he'd grabbed the loud, blond one and carried him on his back out of the cafe. In the meantime, she was still on the floor staring at Gaara, unmoving and unable to do anything. Eventually, she became conscious of Shikamaru tugging her elbow, telling her that they needed to get out of there before the police showed and also of Kankuro, finally showing signs of his maturity, taking Gaara and carrying him out as well. Temari was half-aware of the fact that she'd been ushered into a taxi and then led through hospital doors. A nurse had offered to check her out to see if she was okay and of course Temari merely brushed her aside, finally regaining control of her mind.

Three painful hours later, Kankuro and Temari found themselves sitting beside a still unconscious Gaara's bed in one of the hospital's private rooms. Shikamaru had gone to check on the fellow called Uzumaki. Temari had mixed emotions about watching her brother – she'd hardly ever seen the boy sleep before; what with his having the constitution of a shark and everything... so, his being unconscious sort of made him look... peaceful. For once. She thought the look rather suited him.

Temari had been staring out the window when Gaara finally came to a little while later. He apologized for causing a ruckus. Kankuro told him off for being an idiot and letting things get out of control. Temari remained silent. Later, Kankuro took the dreaded but sadly inevitable responsibility of calling Baki-_san_. The three of them knew there would be hell to pay when the man found out about Gaara's presently useless arm. Temari was grateful for Kankuro's taking charge. He was generally a laid-back guy, but when things went wrong... you could definitely depend on him.

Temari was silently considering whether she or not she should bother calling their father, when Gaara spoke up.

"I apologize for what I did."

Temari looked up, eyebrow raised, "You already said that. Forget it."

"How is the blonde one?"

Temari almost smirked. Was Gaara concerned about someone _else_?

She shrugged, "Dunno. I'll ask Shikamaru when I see him."

Gaara considered her for a moment. "You said it."

"Huh?"

"His name."

It was a small one... but Gaara was definitely smiling – given, it was more of a sneer than anything. Temari suddenly felt awkward.

"I've no clue what in the hell you're talking about," she stood up. "Well anyway, now that I know you're not dead, I'm gonna go see if our insurance company covers lapses of insanity – honestly Gaara, you chose a horrible time to let your inner-demon out."

Gaara looked away. Temari could see he was trying his best to move his fingers. He couldn't.

She smiled, "Don't strain yourself. It'll take a while to heal. Actually, you're pretty lucky. The doctor says with the pressure that was put on it and everything, you could've had some permanent damage. I suppose that Uchiha guy just wanted you to let go of his friend."

Gaara looked at Temari again. "Are you saying I'm supposed to thank him?"

Temari felt brave for once. The boy was lying in a hospital bed attached to about a zillion little wires and machines – he couldn't hurt her... not yet anyway. "Yes. I think you should. It wouldn't hurt, you know."

Gaara didn't say anything and continued staring at her. After having her fill of the blank stare, she turned around and started making her way out the door. Gaara called out, "Temari... on Friday..."

She paused, but did not turn around. "Don't worry about it, dude. We're still going, of course. I'll have Kankuro play your solos while he's on the drums if I have to... We'll be out there playing our souls out." _For you_, she'd wanted to add but thought she was getting corny and emotional enough as it was. To be completely honest, never in her life had she been so frightened before. When Gaara passed out, she felt the wind knocked out of her. Instinct told her to murder the boy who did this to her baby brother, but reason told her not to and told her that it was the only way to calm the raging Gaara. The effect of this inner-battle?

A fucking migraine that was killing her.

But that was beside the point. For the first time in her life, she'd seen her brother _defeated_. Hurt, even. If she had been any other weaker woman, she would have probably cried. Thank god she was Temari.

A soft whisper – which sounded louder than anything else Temari had ever heard before – relieved Temari and all the worry and fear she'd experienced in the last four hours evaporated into nothingness: "Thank you."

And with that, Temari shut the door behind her and leaned against it for a while, a stupid and meaningless smile plastered on her face.

On her way out of the hospital, she encountered the Uchiha. He apologized for having ruined their lives and asked if there was any way he could repay them. She refused his offer of paying for Gaara's hospital bills, saying that it would probably be too much for him to handle since Gaara was – naturally, of course – staying in one of the more expensive and exclusive rooms. The Uchiha had smirked and tried to retort but Temari cut him short by saying that if he wanted to repay them, he should stop by Gaara's room before he left for today. He'd looked at her strangely before finally agreeing. She also heard from him that the Uzumaki guy was doing fine – a little bruised and mangled, but it wasn't the worst shape he was ever in. She was glad. Well, sort of.

She left the hospital, still not feeling any better than when she first got in, and walked around to calm her nerves. While she was talking to the Uchiha, she had been fighting the urge to slam him against the coke machine and tear his arms out – it was rather tiring. Somehow, her legs led her to the park, which was strange since as a child, she'd never liked the park much... and yet now, she felt like she was spending half of her time there. She smirked when she realized she'd reached the white bench Shikamaru had given her that drink just last week – the day she'd managed to get herself into this mess.

There was something seriously wrong with her.

Maybe she really should've asked the nurse for a mild sedative or something. It would've at least helped ease the headache that was throbbing in her head a freaking mile a minute. She must've been acting strange because of the headache. Yeah... that was it.

She let the sigh escape. Today was not a good day.

"Stop sighing. You're making me feel worse than I already do." A moist, cold metallic object was against her cheek. She popped open an eye to greet the familiar voice with a heated retort.

"If you think buying me a can of pop's gonna suffice as an apology," she said, taking the can anyway, "you got another thing coming."

Shikamaru sat down beside her. "I know, I know."

Temari didn't move but continued staring mindlessly at the clear sky. She wondered momentarily when she'd started feeling so comfortable around Shikamaru. Sitting beside him like this felt... almost natural.

"How's your brother?" Shikamaru said at length.

"He'll survive."

"I'm really sorry about what happened... Naruto doesn't listen to anyone once he's lost it."

"Forget it. Everyone could tell Gaara provoked him. Besides, it's easy to tell which side got hurt the most. How _is_ Uzumaki?"

"Oh he'll live. I have a feeling he'll probably try to settle things with Gaara though. That's just the type of person he is – he hates unsettled... disagreements."

Temari nodded. "Sounds like a pretty decent guy."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Yeah..."

Silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one exactly... but both of them knew there were still things to be said.

"This Friday-"

"About Friday-"

They both stopped short and another silence followed. Shikamaru was the one who broke it.

"You're still going, aren't you?"

Temari looked at him, surprised. How did he seem to know her so well?

"Of course."

"We could win, you know; our quintet."

"It's _your_ quintet, Nara. Not mine, and most definitely not 'ours'." Though she probably did like the idea.

Shikamaru laughed. "It's my music and not yours, huh?"

Temari said nothing. Eventually, Shikamaru yawned and stretched.

"I have to say though," he said, probably trying to change the subject. "I was really surprised with the way Gaara acted out. I knew Naruto was bound to do something like that... but your brother... he seemed so..."

Temari laughed. "Surely it's nothing new."

Shikamaru looked at her, "What?"

"Oh you know; you hear it all the time in the news: 'Oh! He seemed like such a quiet man... I never thought he'd get up in the middle of the night and molest my children!'" Temari did a sarcastic impersonation of a mother in distress. "It's always the quiet types, ain't it? The ones you least expect – they're the ones who wake up in the middle of the night to kill you."

Shikamaru stared at her, looking only a little short from shocked. Temari had to laugh.

"Gaara has issues. I'm sure you could pretty much tell."

"Yeah... but..."

Temari smiled. "When we were kids, we'd always make our father promise to give us presents whenever he went on tours. Souvenirs, you know," Temari began, a little unsure why she was sharing this with Shikamaru. "I'd ask for books, Kankuro would ask for some expensive collectible card or something, and Gaara, he would only ever ask for a postcard or a picture or... even just a coin from where our father came from. He was a simple boy," Temari sighed. "Our father... he never did give Gaara anything. Kankuro and me, he'd give us everything we asked for – like he promised – plus a few extras. But Gaara... he'd always forget. He always promised, 'Next time, I'll bring you something you'll really, really like.'" Temari laughed. "It's been six years, Dad," she said not really looking at Shikamaru any more. "When are you ever going to fulfil your promise?"

Shikamaru didn't say anything, but Temari knew he heard her.

_Promises are for wishy-washy idiots._

To be honest, it had broken Temari's heart when she heard that coming out of Gaara's mouth. As far as she knew, Gaara had never once made a promise to anyone – nor has he ever believed anyone when it came to promises either. Contracts and signatures had always been necessary – something as binding as the law: that was the only thing Gaara ever fully trusted. Order. Power. It was kind of sad, really.

A comfortable silence settled as both were lost in their thoughts. Thankfully, Shikamaru chose to break the silence once again.

"So... what're you gonna do about the guitarist?"

Temari looked away. Was that really a necessary topic to bring up? She said nothing.

Shikamaru looked at her. "You have a back up, don't you?"

Temari just drained her can and crunched it into a pulp.

"I don't think Gaara's arm's gonna heal in two days, Temari."

She stood up. "It's none of your concern."

Shikamaru looked incredulously at her, "What are you guys planning on doing? You gonna get Gaara to play the guitar using his mind from the hospital or something? I think a floating guitar will freak people out, you know."

Temari sighed. Was he making fun of their current situation? A chance of a lifetime was floating away in front of their faces – caused by _his_ friends, no less... and the idiot was _laughing_ at them?

It irritated her. A lot.

"It's not very funny, Nara."

Shikamaru stood up. "Well, then... what are you guys planning to _do_?"

"We'll manage. _Ja_."

Temari started walking away. Shikamaru was an insensitive bastard after all – just like the rest of them.

She suddenly felt inexplicably tired.

"Wait, Temari," he called out, reaching for her arm. She avoided his grip.

"I said," she said quietly. She was suddenly in a bad mood. Did he _really_ have to talk about this? "We'll manage. Now... Bye."

She walked away, not once turning around.

- - -

Kiba was laughing. It was rather annoying.

"Dude!" he said, gripping his stomach. "You look like you're goin' to some Halloween party!"

"It's still June," Hinata offered kindly, spraying more red dye on Shikamaru's head. "Of course he isn't going to a Halloween party."

Shikamaru sighed.

Aburame Shino walked into the room. It had always been a mystery to Shikamaru why Shino insisted on wearing those sunglasses all the time – even indoors. Did he think he looked cool in them or something?

"Just out of curiosity, Nara," he said, placing the bag Shikamaru had asked him to get on the table in front of him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Yeah," Kiba said, finally regaining composure. "This ain't like you at all, man. You _actually_ putting sweat and blood into something?" Kiba picked up a can of spray hair dye – probably the fifth or sixth one in the bag. "_So_ not like you."

Shikamaru smirked. That was unfair. Surely he wasn't _that_ lazy... was he?

"It's a woman, isn't it?" a new voice entered their little party in Kiba's room.

Hinata brightened. "_Nii-san_! You made it!"

Hyuuga Neji smiled. "I won't let you down a second time."

Kiba threw a sock at him. "It's a good thing you showed – and a good thing Hinata likes you so much. Otherwise I'dve killed you already." Neji caught the sock and immediately let go of it after realizing it was _not_ exactly fresh off the washing machine.

"Keep your articles of clothing to yourself, please."

Hinata chuckled. "Really, Kiba-_kun_."

Kiba blushed.

"Now what's this shit about it being a woman?" Kiba blurted, trying to get the attention away from himself. "You doing all this for _Ino_? You're kidding, right?"

"Naive fools," Chouji's voice sounded from behind a bag of chips. He had come here with Shikamaru. "A little more to the right, Hinata-_chan_. Yeah... that's it."

"Shit, man," Shikamaru cried, saying something for the first time. "You're getting chips all over me!"

"Well, I'm sor_ry_, Mr Lover-Boy."

Kiba pointed a finger at Shikamaru. "It _is _Ino then!"

Shikamaru sighed. To be honest, he didn't know why he was doing this either.

"Silly, silly boys," Chouji huffed. "You know nothing." He sat down on Kiba's bed and resumed stuffing his face. Neji, Shino and Kiba all looked at him and back at Shikamaru.

"Don't tell me you're... _cheating_ on Ino..."

Shikamaru looked up, tired from (and annoyed by) all the questions. Maybe he should start explaining himself?

"Ah! Don't move Shikamaru-_kun_!" Hinata cried as a streak of black became visible across Shikamaru's cheek.

Damn, it was going to be a long afternoon.

- - -

Temari tuned her bass and Kankuro played with the drums.

The crowd was growing restless – it was pretty obvious the third and most popular (among the girls, at least) member of _Sabaku_ was missing on stage. People were starting to speculate on what happened and all of them wanted their precious lead guitarist-slash-vocalist. Now.

Temari took a deep breath. She looked at Kankuro who nodded back at her.

Baki-_san_ hadn't said anything about not going. Of course, the three of them expected as much. Gaara was alive, and so there was no need to worry – band-related things took first priority always. It was a pity Gaara could not make it, therefore reducing their chances of winning to a sad zero, but they needed to do it anyway; if only for pride.

And they needed to do it for Gaara's sake as well.

Admittedly, Temari felt a little intimidated. Though this was (obviously) not her first time on stage, it was the first time she was meant to step up to the microphone and tell a crowd of potentially dangerous fan-girls – and they'd arrived in their _colonies_ too – that only two of the threesome will be able to play for them tonight. She was rather...concerned of the potential outcome of the situation.

Temari hoped that Kankuro and she would survive the night.

She looked around. Quite a crowd had gathered. In front of her, about ten or so feet away, she saw the judges. All of them were dressed in a manner that screamed "Rock fan!" and they all looked pretty bored. A big-chested blonde lady was sitting down at the far end of the table looking at her painted nails while a dark-haired girl who looked much younger than her chatted away beside her.

Temari stared a little.

Was that a stuffed _pig_ she was holding?

Next to the chatty girl sat a sinister-looking man with long hair. Temari had to suppress a little shudder when the man met her eyes. He licked his lips as he watched her. His tongue reminded her of a snake's: long and pointy.

Yuck.

Next to him was an old-looking man with white hair. He had on some sort of make-up that looked a lot like Baki's tattoos. She stopped to look at him; to be completely honest he looked like quite the odd one out.

Temari sighed. It was time to get to business. Admittedly, she was a little saddened, however her love of performing and the feeling of being on stage put all those emotions at bay… for now.

She stepped up to the microphone, took it off its stand and placed it near her mouth. A sudden hush filled the large hall. Everyone wanted to listen to what she had to say. She gulped on the inside.

"Yo! How y'all doin' tonight!" she said, rock-star mode on. She was greeted by an assortment of yells and squeals. A few _I love you, Temari!_'s were heard, and of course the usual _Marry me!_'s. She smiled. Oh how she simply loved this feeling.

"'Fraid I got some bad news for everyone!" she said, not missing a beat. She was _born_ to do this, given she was still a little concerned. She paused and waited for the yelling and professions of undying love to die down. Eventually, a silence grew in the big hall as everyone strained to hear what she had to say – obviously it was going to be about the missing band member. She took a breath.

"It's about Gaara," she began. "I'm afraid he's-"

A distorted guitar sounded out of no where. She stopped and turned around to look at Kankuro who looked just as clueless as she was feeling. The crowd went wild and screams of _Gaara! Gaara! _began. The invisible instrument ripped out another guitar lick, and was met with squeals of delight. Temari looked to the right, toward the backstage and... nearly dropped the microphone.

_Gaara?_

A boy wearing a cloak that was way too big for him and a hood that shrouded his face walked into the light. Red hair and a tattoo made themselves visible and Temari heard Kankuro choke on his gum behind her. The strange boy walked and when he was just a few paces away, he smiled at Temari.

This time, she really did drop her microphone.

Echoes of the subsequent loud thud reverberated around the suddenly silent hall – was it normal for Temari to be staring at Gaara with a look that was dripping with blatant shock and something that very much resembled anger?

"Ah," Kankuro spoke into his mic, next to his drum set, trying to apparently save the day. It did not look like Temari was going to be explaining anything anytime soon. "Gaara, sad to say ladies (and this brought back the original vigour of the crowd), has a sore throat... he won't be able to sing for us tonight!"

Loud _What!_'sand _Aww!_'s erupted among the audience. Temari didn't really hear it... she was far too busy staring at Shikamaru.

_What the fucking hell are you doing here!_ she mouthed at him. He smiled.

_Helping you out. Be more thankful, will you?_

She stared incredulously at him. Kankuro covered the mic.

_Uh... guys... it's getting pretty _weird...

Temari stared at him and he shrank back behind his drum set.

_Right... take your time._

She turned back towards Shikamaru. _Do you think this is _funny

He looked at her. _No._

She was speechless.

_Come on... your audience is waiting._

Shikamaru hit a power chord, signalling to the crowd that they were ready to start. She watched him, narrow-eyed. Did he actually _know_ how to play the guitar? She didn't have a good feeling about this...

Temari stilled when Shikamaru suddenly played a familiar set of chords. Her eyes opened wide.

_What are you doing!_

Shikamaru looked at her. _Hey... this is your show... not mine._

_But-!_

_Sing, already._

_I haven't-!_

Shikamaru ignored her, and chose instead to repeat the intro. She turned to look at Kankuro who was watching Shikamaru, slightly taken aback. He looked at her... _What is this bastard playing?_

She turned back to the audience. Gaara was their singer... Kankuro and Temari did nothing more than support him – as drummer and bassist. The few times they were expected to at all sing involved doing a bit of harmony; and even then _those_ were small, almost unnoticeable parts. She looked at Shikamaru... he didn't expect her to-

Shikamaru looked at her, bored. He started again... the audience was getting impatient.

Her persistently continued playing.

She took a deep breath. There was apparently no turning back.

_Em _"I wake," Temari sang, a bit hesitatingly into the mic. The audience hushed and all watched her, surprised at this new development. She was never really totally confident about her voice; she wasn't entirely sure the silence was a good or bad thing. _G _"up in the morning..."

She wasn't sure why she was doing it... but she was singing.

She was singing _her_ song.

Eventually, Kankuro joined in, obviously improvising. She turned around. Kankuro was smiling at her, _keep going._ She frowned. She wasn't so sure that she should... though, to be honest, it was rather exciting. She turned back to the crowd, and was surprised to find that they were suddenly back into rock-concert mode – regardless of the fact that she wasn't really singing a _rock_ song – she smiled. She looked back at Shikamaru who looked like he was really concentrating hard on the chords. Really... hard.

Something inside her clicked.

Suddenly, Temari felt she could finish the song after all. Somehow.

She watched Shikamaru from the corner of her eyes as she made up the lyrics right on the spot.

"You see right through me, and I can't hide..."

Shikamaru played a small guitar lick. Temari almost laughed – he was pretty cute.

_You see right through me..._

For reasons that were not totally clear for her, the song she sang felt like her life.

- - -

Shikamaru almost laughed on stage. He knew she had finished the song – he wasn't entirely sure why or how he knew; he just did. It was a risk he had to (and was more or less willing to) take. On the off-chance that she had, in fact, _not_ finished her song... he knew tonight would've been the last night he would be able breathe fresh city air.

Not that such a thing really existed in Tokyo... but... that's beside the point.

He was backstage. Somehow, he'd managed to slip away unseen by the hordes of Gaara-fan-girls, and was now trying his best to get rid of the make up that polluted his face (kind courtesy of the wonderful Hyuuga Hinata). He found it exceedingly ironic how something that took three hours to put on his face was taken off with a little ball of cotton and something called "Make-up Remover" in a matter of seconds. How _did_ girls do it?

His thoughts suddenly flew to Kankuro.

How in the hell did _he_ do it?

A soft knock was heard behind him. The one who knocked didn't bother waiting for him to answer and opened the door. Geez... what if he had been dressing up or something?

"Since when did you play the guitar?" was what Temari said. Ha... no _Thanks, you saved our asses_ or anything.

"Uh," he said, rubbing under his left eye. Okay... maybe that eye liner thing didn't come off so easy... "Since you played your song for me at the music store."

She looked at him. "Where'd you get that guitar?"

"I bought it. That was the guitar you were playing, wasn't it? I figured it was a good brand. I trusted your tastes."

He looked at the Fender guitar bag which was leaning against the wall next to the door. Shikamaru had to admit, it was a strangely... exhilarating sensation. Being on stage and playing the guitar, that is. It was totally different from playing in the orchestra. The audience was really into the music and though they were making up lyrics and singing along like idiots they all seemed to be... he had somewhat felt a little... _proud_... at their attention. Unlike in an orchestra where the audience more or less seemed passive and only showed that they were listening at all in the end... a rock concert felt so much more... interactive.

But like _hell_ was he ever going to do _that_ again.

It was exciting... but it was too much work.

He preferred the quieter and more respectful atmosphere of the concert hall. And it was totally different music. He had to admit, in the end... Temari and he really _did_ live in different worlds.

"What about your string thing?"

He looked up at her, surprised she bothered asking. "Neji showed up this time. You know," he said returning to face the mirror and trying to clean his face. "I was never really into the whole competition thing – Kiba was the one who was enthusiastic about it."

He saw Temari start.

"They why in the hell did you make me-"

"'Cause I wanted to play with you again," he said matter-of-factly. "I thought it would've been kinda cool had you played with us. Your style is distinctly different from ours; we received proper training all our lives – you didn't. It was refreshing."

She stared at him through the mirror.

"And... well... I like the way you sound."

She looked away. Was she embarrassed?

Cute.

Shikamaru ventured, "It's a great song. When did you finish it?"

She stared at the wall for a long while before answering, "Right on stage, you idiot. You put me on the spot."

He stared at her wide-eyed. "You're lying."

She scowled at him. "_Never_ do this shit again."

Shikamaru had to laugh.

"What? No 'thank you'?"

She snorted and turned around, walking away.

She paused. "Thank you, Nara."


	7. Conclusions

**A Little Harmony**  
Shikamaru/Temari  
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, lemon, language

**Disclaimer**: Characters and names all belong to their proper owners.

**Author's Note**: If you'd like to read the complete (and uncensored) version... you can find it over at TONFA or AFFdotNet. Feel free to message/contact me and I'd be more than happy to give you the url. Yes... this is the final chapter. Thanks for all the support and for taking the time to read my little story—it's been fun.

---

CHAPTER SEVEN

Temari leaned against the door. He was gone. She sighed. _He was gone_. She didn't know why, but a part of her sort of wanted him to stay. _Stay? And do what?_ She chuckled. Oh god, she knew what. Just then, he was looking pretty damn hot. She shook her head.

She was getting retarded, freaking hell.

Maybe she _had_ drunk one too many shots of sake at that after-party.

Though, truthfully... she had no idea why they even had an "after-party" at all.

Well, anyway...

She had to admit, she was surprised when she saw him on stage. Okay, maybe "surprised" was a bit of an understatement; try completely and utterly stunned. That's not to say, however, that she wasn't moved... and touched. She couldn't help but think that... well... he'd done that... for _her_, hadn't he? She smiled. It was... kind of sweet.

She paused. And knocked her head backwards, hitting the door.

Good god, she was getting sappy.

Eventually, she pushed herself up and started walking away from the door, a part of her still feeling a bit... incomplete. She blamed all tipsiness and confusing emotion to the alcohol. Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten into that drinking game with Shikamaru. But, in her defence, he didn't _look_ like the kind of guy who could hold down his alcohol.

That night, Temari learned to avoid judging people by their looks alone. It was kind of annoying how Shikamaru kept proving her wrong. Really.

Suddenly, she heard a knock. She turned around, wide-eyed. _What?_

Was she hearing things?

No. She heard it again. She walked back to the door. _It couldn't be..._

Hand hovering over the knob, still unsure whether she should open it or not, she reprimanded herself for being stupid.

Another knock.

But still...

"Nara?"

---

Shikamaru was confused about the after-party. He wasn't expecting it. Why _was_ there even an after-party anyway? It wasn't like they won... and it wasn't like their group was complete... He certainly wasn't a member of their little band and he wasn't planning on being one any time soon—tonight's experience was a once in a lifetime thing, and he was more than willing to keep it that way.

So, when Kankuro came to him with the invitation to join them for some sort of "gathering" at the local pub, he had been rather taken aback. So much so, in fact, that the _Okay, why not?_ that had escaped his mouth did so without his noticing it.

Minutes later, at the pub, he realized it was their manager's idea. Baki was a rather intimidating sort of man, as far as Shikamaru was concerned; and the way he had stared and looked over Shikamaru in a sort of annoyed and irritated, yet superior way made Shikamaru feel really small indeed. He supposed he wasn't too happy an outsider had butted into band business, regardless of the fact that it had saved their asses.

He wondered for a second whether the tall, muscular man was part of the Sabakuno clan as well.

"Next time, even if you intend to aid us, do not do things on your own," was the only thing Baki said to him all night.

It was a little bit past 2 AM now. He wasn't _too_ drunk... though admittedly he had drunk a bit more than wise.

But really, he had no idea women could drink so much.

Or maybe that was just Temari.

_Temari..._

She'd looked really happy tonight. In truth, though they'd spent quite a lot of time together, it wasn't often he'd see an unguarded Temari. Every time he talked to her, he felt this wall thing—it was like she was warning him to stay away and not get too close. Tonight, there hadn't been any walls. Alcohol-induced or not, he had enjoyed being there to witness such a happy Temari.

Maybe... a bit too much.

He'd enjoyed it a bit too much.

That was probably why he'd offered to walk her to her hotel room when Kankuro got swept away by a couple of drunken fan-girls who had been brave enough to follow, and when Baki said he had a plane to catch. He couldn't have let Temari walk the streets at two in the morning by herself, now, could he?

That was also probably why he allowed his feet to take him back to her after having just deposited her there a few minutes ago.

That was probably why...

---

Temari got pushed back against the wall across her front door. With a grunt, she looked up, confused, at the boy now holding her shoulders. _He's drunk_ was all she could think... but her body didn't seem to mind.

Wait. What?

"Na-"

She was shushed with an eager mouth she was a bit too willing to welcome. Faintly, through her suddenly erratic heartbeat, she heard the door close with a click.

---

"I know he was trying to help us and everything," Kankuro said seriously, looking at Temari. "But..."

"Let it go, Kankuro," was Temari's short reply.

Gaara spoke up, "Kankuro has a point, Temari."

They both looked at him. They'd just finished briefing Gaara on what happened the night before. He was due to check out that afternoon and after that, they had a plane to catch. Their stay in Japan had been originally planned to be only a week at most—they, after all, only had one gig. However, the competition had pushed the date of their return home back and now that it was over, they had no reason to stay. Baki had called them that morning and informed them that he had managed to book them tickets home. They had a show in two days and he wanted them back ASAP. They had no reason to stay.

_Yeah... no reason to stay._

"If the press ever found out about my broken arm, they'll have a field day."

"It's a good thing the hospital keeps things confidential, then," she said, as she zipped Gaara's bag closed.

"You are defending him." Gaara didn't ask a question; it was a statement.

Kankuro chuckled. "You're too young to understand, Gaara."

Temari shot him a look.

He raised his hands in mock defeat. "Hey, you're a girl, right? It happens when you get lai—Ow!"

A red apple, originally on top of Gaara's bedside table, found itself bouncing off Kankuro's head.

"Temari, it isn't wise to avoid the situation." Gaara was watching her now.

She sighed impatiently. "Look. What's done is done. There's nothing else we can _do_."

Gaara frowned.

"Shikamaru was only trying to help."

---

He looked up from kissing her porcelain neck to find her staring at him, eyes glazed over. She was beautiful. He cupped her head with both hands, and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. There was a momentary pause before she leaned in and sucked on his bottom lip, asking him to open his mouth. She was so god damn beautiful.

---

Shikamaru took a sip from the quickly cooling cup of coffee he held in his hands.

What in the hell was he doing here?

He looked up at the blonde girl across him as she nervously moved her cup around and around. He almost sighed—but he knew she had something to tell him and that it was wiser to listen. The gravity of the atmosphere said at least that much. But, really... it was the first thing in the morning... and he wasn't quite done talking to Temari just yet.

"I... saw the news," she said finally.

He moaned inwardly. Of course she did.

"It was you... wasn't it, Shikamaru?"

"Why do you say that, Ino?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Women's intuition?"

He looked at her. "Right." _You forced it out of Chouji, didn't you?_

"So," she said, still not looking him in the eye. "That blonde girl you were with-"

"-was Temari," he finished for her.

"How did you-"

"Her father is an important sponsor for the school orchestra. We got introduced after our last presentation." _The one you decided not to go to, remember?_

"Oh," was all she said.

He wondered for a second why she didn't just go through with it. Was she finally breaking up with him? Was she going to accuse him of cheating on her and make a big deal about it? She was, wasn't she? She was going to make it into something she could cry on Sasuke's shoulders about... The ironic thing was, whatever it was she decided to dish out, it would probably be true.

He couldn't help but think about what happened last night.

"Nothing happened, then?"

Shikamaru stared at her. She smiled—cheekily—at him.

"I mean," she continued. "A hot girl like Temari... she wouldn't be interested in a boring guy like you."

He had to admit, she actually had a point...

But... that wasn't the problem here.

"That's not what you really want to say, is it?"

She looked at him, startled. "What do you mean?"

He sighed impatiently. "Look," he said, not masking his irritation. "If you want to break up with me, go ahead. Accuse me of cheating on you; call me a lying, cheap bastard. Cry. Tell me I've broken your hea-"

"But," she said, voice growing weaker, "you didn't..."

He stopped.

He couldn't look her in the eye.

"Shi-Shikamaru," she said, voice shaking, "tell me you didn't."

"What does it really matter?" he said, looking at her now. "It's been two years, Ino. Two. Years. Obviously your little plan to win Sasuke's heart is not working—the guy will not get jealous. Haven't you had enough?"

She stared at him.

"I don't even know why you're acting out now. Jesus, Ino," he said looking away again. "He's not even _here_."

What was he saying? He was asking for a fight.

Really, that Temari had a way of making his mind go fuzzy when he most needed it—

"Shit!" Suddenly, Shikamaru found himself soaked with coffee. Thank god it had cooled down—he shuddered to think what it would've felt if it were still boiling. "What the _hell_, Ino!"

She was standing now, hand still sticking out from having thrown the coffee at him.

She was shaking.

"Is that it?" she whispered, staring at a spot on the table. "Is that it, then? That's what's going on?"

Shikamaru stared at—for the first time ever—an Ino with tears silently falling down her cheeks. He'd never seen Ino cry before.

"_Baka_. Don't think you can read everyone so well."

She looked at him, tears still welling up in her eyes. She was obviously trying hard to stop them, regardless of the fact that she was failing terribly.

"You know what? For a genius, you're pretty stupid," she said finally, voice breaking. She sat back down.

Without looking at him, she said, "I asked _you_ out to the Spring Formal two years ago, Shikamaru—not Sasuke. I asked _you_."

---

Her eyes shot open and she gasped.

She could hardly breathe now. She wanted him to stop—no. She didn't... she couldn't decide. Either stop the torture now or finally push her off that last cliff because it was driving her close to insani—

Her body stiffened and she involuntarily arched, mouth open in a silent scream of ecstasy.

---

"I can go back on my own," she said indignantly, waving away his offer. The both of them watched as Baki-_san_ disappeared into the night. _I'll call you later when something turns up_ were his last words. Temari knew she would probably get a call from him a few hours later—probably when he was still in his plane. He was just that kind of man, really.

"It's two in the morning," he retorted. "There're weirdoes and rapists out... _and_ you're drunk."

She stared at him. "You're the weirdo. Besides, I'm not drunk."

"You're holding your glass upside down."

She stared at the shot glass. "I'm doing it on purpose."

"Right."

She sighed and smiled at him. "Admit it: you just want to get into my pants."

He choked on his water. "Wh-what!"

"Ooh," she laughed. "Bull's eye?"

He stared at her for a split-second before turning away with a slight blush.

"You're not _wearing_ pants."

---

Shikamaru groaned as light pushed through his closed eyelids.

He was exhausted. His body ached. His head throbbed. Somewhere to his left he heard sounds that seemed to come from a television—something about a robbery somewhere by someone. To his right, he heard the sounds of clothes being folded. Slowly, he opened his eyes to stare at a plain white ceiling. It took him a moment to remember where he was.

He pushed himself up from the bed, letting the sheets that covered him fall. His chest was bare.

"Ah," Temari looked up from her packing. She was fully dressed. "You're up. I was just about to wake you."

He didn't—or rather, couldn't—say anything.

She laughed. "You have a hangover, don't you?"

Looking to his right he spotted a glass of water and pills beside it. Temari continued her packing as he swallowed the painkillers.

"Where you going?"

She looked up. "Back home. We're picking up Gaara at the hospital and catching an afternoon flight."

Shikamaru stared at her for a bit. Home?

"You're leaving?"

She didn't even pause. "Well, yeah. I live in the States, remember?"

"But..."

"I have to fly," she said, closing her bag. "Your clothes are over there. You can walk out of here on your own, right?"

He stared at her.

She looked away, as if unable to look him in the eye. "One sec. Bathroom."

As she disappeared into the adjoining washroom, he stared at the television. Grabbing the remote, he flipped channels.

_NHK General TV—public announcements..._

Really, what had he expected?

_Nippon TV—some lame game show again..._

This was _Sabaku no_ Temari they were talking about...

_HBO—oh, they had cable._

It wasn't like she was—

_Fuji TV—more news..._

"—according to this footage we see, it appears all three members of the famous punk rock band _Sabaku_ were present at a cafe three days ago. Unfortunately, due to the poor video quality we are unable to identify who they were _with_... however, it appears clearly _here_," a red circle appeared in the middle of the screen, highlighting someone being strangled by someone else, "that one of them was injured. Based on eye-witness accounts, the victim appears to be Gaara, _Sabaku_'s lead guitarist."

Shikamaru stared at the screen. "Shit..."

The screen flashed to footage from the _Chuunin_ Battle of the Bands.

Temari walked out of the washroom. "What's up, Shikamaru?"

He continued staring at the screen.

"The band was also present at an underground rock concert last night called the _Chuunin_. Gaara was able to play the guitar without difficulty," the camera panned and zoomed in on a hooded 'Gaara', "but was unable to sing. Live at a fan's after-the-concert party we have our correspondent..."

"Wow," Temari spoke up. "Had no clue Japanese people were _this_ quick picking up the gossip."

Shikamaru looked up at her, a strange knot forming at the bottom of his stomach.

"They don't know about Gaara actually breaking his arm yet, do they?"

Temari shrugged. "Guess not."

"If they do find out..."

Temari grinned. "It'll be fairly amusing."

Shikamaru cursed. "Shit. I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking when I-"

She sat down next to him. "Relax. It's not... _entirely_ your fault..."

He looked blankly at her.

"Okay, maybe it is," she surrendered. "But, hey, you _did_ help us out."

He sighed, looking away. How could he have been so _stupid_?

"Shikamaru..."

Temari reached out. "You're the last person who needs to be worried about this. I mean, it's our ba-"

Shikamaru's cell phone rang out of no where. He _really_ needed to change that ring tone. Blushing, he reached out for his jeans which were at the foot of the bed. After fishing the phone out of the pocket, he moaned at the number on the caller ID.

All the while, Temari watched.

"_Ne_, Shikamaru," Ino's voice sounded. "Let's meet up for breakfast, okay?"

"What?" was all he could say.

"I'll wait for you at, uhm... that... cafe we always go to. Okay?"

"Wait," he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Ino-"

_Click_.

He sighed again. It was too early in the morning for this.

"Girlfriend?"

Shikamaru started. He turned around to see a smiling Temari.

"Can't keep her waiting, can we?"

---

"I can't believe it," Ino was hanging on to Shikamaru. "It really _is_ you."

Inexplicably, Temari felt an urge to grab her and choke her to death.

"Even after Shikamaru told me how you two met..." she started, still staring, and still hanging unto Shikamaru like he was her favourite bloody teddy bear.

Shikamaru coughed, interrupting.

Temari laughed—oh she wanted to kill the bitch. First she'd stolen him away that morning when she was planning on—

Uh... nevermind.

"And I can't believe it's _you_," _why the hell is he going out with you?_ "—the girl I hear so much about."

Ino looked pleased. Ah, so she was possessive _and_ obsessed. "Really?"

Shikamaru was looking at her now. She smiled.

"Oh yeah. He would never shut up about you."

Ino blushed—it was obviously fake. Somehow. Probably.

"Temari," Shikamaru started.

No. Temari wouldn't have it... a part of her wanted it, but she couldn't—he didn't belong to her.

"If you're still worried about the press, don't."

Kankuro spoke up from behind. "Yeah, no one knows about us leaving today—hell, we didn't find out till this morning. It's not a big deal so long as no one finds out Gaara _actually_ broke his arm. We'll just dismiss it as gossip."

Gaara said coolly, expression still unchanging. "The plane is boarding."

Ino forced down a squeal and started shaking from excitement. Temari rolled her eyes.

"Gaara, say hello to Ino."

Gaara regarded her for a few seconds before finally nodding.

Temari then realized why she was hanging onto Shikamaru for dear life. She practically fainted.

A fan-girl... pathetic.

She looked at Shikamaru who was obviously still concerned.

"Forget it, Shikamaru. As far as we're concerned, it's just some free publicity."

With that, she smiled and turned to her brothers. Kankuro waved, Gaara nodded curtly and the three of them disappeared into another crowd. Shikamaru stared after Temari's retreating back for a while before realizing Ino was staring at him.

"Nothing happened, right?" she asked softly, referring to the conversation they'd just had in the cafe.

He looked back at where Temari's back originally was.

"No, nothing happened."

It was all a dream.

---

Temari moaned as Shikamaru pushed her against the door. Her hand desperately tried to open the door behind her, but she couldn't manage to grip the knob long enough to turn it.

Suddenly, the door behind her disappeared and she fell.

With a groan of pain, she hit her head on the carpeted floor of her private bedroom in their hotel suite. Shikamaru managed to catch himself and not fall on her, though he ended up above her. They stared at each other for a while.

"You're not drunk." Temari hadn't really asked a question.

"No," he replied. "Are you?"

She smiled at him. "Not really."

A silence ensued as they watched each other.

"Temari," he began, "I... I think... I'm-"

She shushed him with a finger.

"Don't ruin the moment by saying something stupid, Shikamaru."

He looked at her confused.

"Besides," she finished, "I don't think your girlfriend will appreciate it."

---

Ino was walking in front him. Where she got all her energy was a mystery he didn't want to bother even _thinking _about. He sighed. Looking up, he saw an airplane flying away into the distance.

In the end... they lived in two different worlds.

Didn't they?

He pocketed his hands, contemplating whether or whether not he should excuse himself when... he pulled something out of his pocket. He stared at the white piece of paper now in his hand. He chuckled. Temari's song. Complete with chords and everything.

What was she trying to say, exactly?

Turning the paper over, he smiled.

_Next time round, Nara, make sure you're _free_, yeah?_

---

Temari leaned against the compartment window. Because it had been such short notice, they'd only managed to book business class seats—ah well. It wasn't too bad, really. She smiled to herself as she watched buildings below her getting smaller and smaller.

It wasn't very long... but she had shared a little harmony with him.

In the end, that was all that mattered.

They'd see each other again one day, anyway... right?

End


End file.
